Guess what folks! I'm officially graduated!! That's right, officially out of school. My parents came up and on Sunday we drove all my stuff back down to Dallas. I would post more about it but right now we are trying to get out of Dallas and on the road to St. George, UT for Christmas. FUN!! So super busy, but I will try to post soon. Luv to all!!

almost the end...

Ok, I know it's been a while since I posted and ppl are just dying to find out what I'm thinking now that graduation is only 5 days away...yeah it's ok my mouth is hanging open too...but you are going to have to wait another day or so. I have things I am going to post, i'm just in the middle of a paper that is due tomorrow and then I will be officially done with my undergraduate degree. (Ok, you can close your mouths now...i think a spider just crawled in there.)

So....me in a nutshell:

• "OMGsh!!!!!"
• "I'm leaving for good....."(blank stare)
• "I can't believe I have this much junk."
• "It's my last Sunday __________"
• "That's why they invented Facebook."
• "Why didn't I take more advantage of free student tickets to events at Emens and free music and movies from the library?"
• "Ok, I need a pics of ppl, Carter's hotdog stand, the gum tree, Frog Baby, duck pond, big love tree, the shower in my bedroom..."
• "How am I going to eat all my food before I leave?" Without getting fat?
• "I should probably have more junk than this to throw away." SHOULD being the key word here.
• "No Lee Anne, as much as I will miss you terribly, I can't fail my classes to postpone graduation."
• "No, I don't know why no one asked me to play more in sacrament meeting." But it's kinda late now.
• "Is this my last time to see you?" (hug with tears in eyes...again)
• "Can I have your recipe for that?"
• "I hope my cap and gown doesn't make me look fat." Between this and my fridge it might be hard to look otherwise. Just saying.

Oh yeah, and my LBH Alexa helped me pick out this really spiffy mug too.............

Yep.

Snow....

So....yeah. It's been snowing. A lot. Except today, where it is raining/iceing. I wish I were one of those ppl that jumps up and down with excitement at all the white stuff floating in the air. Well, ok....I used to be one of those ppl. That is until about 2 years ago. I used to love snow...was fascinated by it, loved to play in it, loved watching it fall, loved skiiing and snowboarding. Then the disgusting winter of last year happened (see "Weather Blurb" post). And I discovered that I really am not that facsinated by it anymore. See, when I was living in TX, it doesn't snow much, if at all....maybe an inch, and usually doesn't stick. And we usually would just get freezing rain instead anyway. So it was a treat when it snowed....and the city would shut down too, no school, awsome. Well, I loved how it snowed when I moved to Muncie. I was so excited and fascinated by all the white stuff falling to the ground and accumulating to 3-4 inches at a time, sometimes more.

And then I got my car.

And then I discovered the joys of driving in the snow. I learned how to break, how to put on the gas, how to cruise over an ice patch, and learned the hard way to never let the windsheild get too hot becuase the snow will melt then freeze into ice, and the concept of ice scrapers and anti-freeze.....fun stuff let me tell you! As much as I enjoyed the chores of owning a car that lives outside in the snow, I still was fascinated by the snow. I remember valentines day of 07...there was a huge snowstorm and Ball State closed for 3 days...that never happens. But it was fun to be stuck inside watching the snow get higher and higher...we got about 2 feet on top of the 8 inches we already had. But winter of 08.....I think that is when I really decided that I didn't like snow that much (again see "weather blurb" post). Everything was so disgusting all the time. And I've been able to overlook all the sparkly prettiness to see the true facts about snow:

1) it's cold
2) it melts in your socks
3) it's cold
4) it gets into your house
5) it's cold
6) it makes the city one slushy mud pie
7) Nothing slows down traffic more
8) okay, it's really cold!!!!

That about sums it up. I'm all for snow....just not as much as I used to....unless I am flying down a mountain on flat things you strap to your feet or can sit in, I'm all for just watching the snow from inside my warm house....yeah....

Happy Birthday to me!! I'm 23!!

This is a really cool cake.

This one i think is very chic.

This is actually a cake. no kidding, and awsome.

What can I say. I'm a sucker for colors. And candles. I love candles.

More candles!!!

Oh this cake was just too awsome not to post.

A Yoda cake, you should never be without. Eat cake, you must.

And finally...

...the best birthday cake ever. This pony I believe is called Toola-Roola (I admit, i'm obsessed).

Glenn Beck's "The Christmas Sweater" (Read "fairytale roadtrip" post below first)

If you have not read the previous post, about my Thanksgiving Break, then do so before you read this post. It will make more sense about why I am talking about it in context than if you read this post first.

I started listening to Glenn Beck about 2 years ago. He is a conservative, an LDS member, a recovering alcoholic (because once you are an alcoholic you are always an alcoholic, and he refers to it often) and, I have come to believe, deeply inspired. My sister Kim and my mom instroduced me to him, because they liked talk radio. I had never listened to it. Anyway, I was not sure at first...talk radio, how boring, I thought. However, the more I listened to him, the more I came to respect this man. I am a very suspicious person. I don't just hang onto people's words and believe them. However, what he was saying made sense to me. The things he said about the constitution, the economy, our rights, political aspects, made sense to me. Much like the gospel of our church makes sense to me. I actually believed him and wanted to believe him. I started doing some of my own research. I found that the things Glenn was saying was not unreasonable. When this election came up, he was one of the only people telling us to stand up for what we believe in, to band together as a country, and to not tear each other down, no matter what party you belonged to or what issues we stand for. He cares so deeply about the constitution. He was not for Barak Obama, or John McCain for that matter. It was something I agreed with him on, and not just because he said so. I have done my own research and compared it to what I believe. But when Barak Obama got elected, Glenn gave him his full support, giving him the benefit of the doubt. There are so many McCain supporters that literally HATE Obama. But Glenn pointed out that Obama hasen't really done anything as president yet. Yes, he was a lousy leftist senator in most conservatives' viewsite, which is true. But he did win fair and square, and we should "give him our full support, as much has we are able, without sacrificing our values." We disagree with the policies, not necessarily with the man...not yet anyway. Reading everything he has done in the past, it is hard for me to do this, but I feel it is right. I have been blessed with knowing what is generally right and wrong. I am not bragging...it is a fact that I have used in practice my whole life. I just know.

Anyway, I walked into the bookstore very excited. I was finally going to get a chance to shake the hand of this inspired influential man. I anxioiusly stood in line. I quickly moved up to the front. And when I got there, I shook his hand. I told him that I started listening to his show 2 years ago, and how it has been an eye-opener and inspiration to me. I also prayed that the Lord would bless him and his family. He told me thankyou. And although it was over in less than twenty seconds, he listened intently to me and thanked me fervently. Something else also happened when I shook his hand. While I respected this man, as soon as I shook his hand I immediately felt a deep love for him. And I knew in my gut, and in my heart, that he is truly being inspired by the spirit in his latest project of the Christmas Sweater. He made a speech a few minutes later, which I have attached below. It is several minutes long, but there in the room I felt the spirit as he talked. Now wether all he is saying in regards toward the end of his speech is true, I don't know. We all interpret in different ways and have different opinions. But as far as the Christmas Sweater project goes, he is trully being inspired by the Lord.

I encourage anyone reading my blog to read his book. Additionally, his radio show airs weekdays from 8-11am eastern time. You don't have to agree, but he is on the right track in any case. It was so exciting to meet him today.


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the fairytale roadtrip

Ok, so i'm back in muncie...shudder...and I am not happy about it...quite sad actually. The last week seems like a dream now that i am sitting back in my roommate's old sofa in the livingroom of our apartment. Which is too hot I might add becuase we forgot to turn down the heater while we were all gone. But that's beside the point.

Just to warn you, this post will be long. I haven't written in a while and there is much to be told. I am proud to say that I can thank/blame all that has happened on Stephanie Meyer. I'll tell you why. My wonderful weekend became possible because Summit Entertainment moved the Twilight movie from December 6th to November 21st. I had always planned on seeing this with my BFF since we are both Twihards, and we actually live driving distance from each other. She is married with a year and a half old boy (who is soooo cute!!) and they live in Peoria, IL. Well, after I made plans to visit her, I received an opportunity to go to Northern Illinois University to spend the day on campus, have a lesson with the professor of harp there, Faye Seeman, and go to the NIU philharmonic orchestra concert. I couldn't pass that up, and they wanted me to come up on the 24th, Monday. So now I could spend the weekend with Steph, then drive up to Dekalb IL on Monday. Sweet!! Well I was also invited to spend Thanksgiving in Lafayette with some family friends of mine...who I actually knew from Dallas. Jeff Bell was my swim coach in highschool and club and his wife Nikki coached for the club team also. Their 11-year-old daughter I knew since she was a baby. They decided to move to Indiana after I came to school here. So that has worked out really well. So now I had my perfect vacation lined up...all i needed to do was get myself exused from one class and work, which I did. (You would)

So I left Friday afternoon and made the 5 hour drive to Peoria in 4 hours...woot!! We went and saw the Twilight movie...which i must confess was a slight let-down...some of the acting was not as good as it could have been and there were some pretty bad one-liners...other than that I think summit did a pretty good job for having no special effects. I'm serious, they didn't even dub in some real animal snarling, they just did normal human hissing at each other. But agian, other than that it was pretty good. There were a lot of Jacob fans in the audience (which was mostly 14-year-old girls screaming and swooning every time a new male character entered), and they cheered...excuse me, screamed...every time they saw Jacob. So given the audience we were with, I'm sure we laughed in a lot more places than we were supposed to. I want to go back though and watch it again, seriously this time though.

So that was good. On Saturday we went and got Krispy Kreme, and I mailed some applications for schools in the mail: UW in Seattle and UT in Austin. It is going to end up being a choice between these two and NIU. After that we went back to the house and pretty much either played with Dallin or watched football, or did both at the same time. It was fun...I got to put myself in Stephanie's shoes just what it is like having a little kid around all the time...and it makes me really excited to have kids of my own some day. He even let me hold him, something he apparently never lets anyone but mom and dad do. We watched BYU get killed by Utah, which was kinda not fun (5 turnovers in the second half i think...someone can correct me. i'm still new to the sport). But other than that is was awsome. On Sunday I went to church with them and helped keep Dallin occupied...which was a challenge but kinda fun too...although I felt more like an aunt becuase I could just play with him but when he started getting fussy I let mom or dad take over...hehe i can't wait to be a real aunt :) I also saw my friend Amy Boling (now Amy Rose) at the Peoria ward. I didn't even know she was living there! We saw each other from across the room in relief society, and started laughing. It was awsome. I miss the Boling family.

Well on Monday we said our goodbyes and I headed up 2 hours north to Dekalb, IL where Northern Illinois University is. At first my spirits started to droop...the closer I got, the more out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-farm-and-corn-fields it looked. Where was this town? Is it just some university out litterally in the middle of nowhere?? Well, I finally got there, and the change was instantaneous...it was like from the fiction books and sci-fi movies where you pass through a barrier or forcefield and all of a sudden you are somewhere else...yeah it was like that. Anyway, the town (what little I drove through) looked pretty nice, homey. Not too old, but not big-city either. I managed to find the music building with little difficulty, although I had to park in the neighborhood since I forgot to print off the directions to get a parking pass. It was around 12:30. The first thing I was supposed to do while I was here was to go sit in on the NIU philharmonic rehearsal. Let me just tell you, the music building was pretty confusing the first time walking into it. I probably lookoed like a dork, walking in circles. I managed to find the doors to the hall but they were locked, so I had to go find the offices so they could let me in.


Ok, as a musician, I have a pretty high standard of what a good orchesra should sound like. And I don't play in a great orchestra, I've come to realize. I always thought Ball State was ok, but after hearing the NIU philharmonic I have come to the conclusion that Ball State is nothing in comparison. The students there actually want to play music, and actually like it. There were several ppl who were smiling as they were playing. Wow, you never get that at BSSO, except goofy me when we actually play something that is good. They were rehearsing Scheherezade...so good! With a great harp part as well!


After the rehearsal, I met up with a nice lady from the music office who took me on the 10 cent tour of the music facilities. I say this now. It is not as nice as Ball State, not by a long shot. The Hall is not as accoustically good either (it'd be tough though to find a better hall at a school than Sursa Hall). However, as we were walking, and talking, I found I could easily imagine myself there...which was crazy! I kept telling myself, you don't want to go here. It's in the midwest, in the middle of nowhere, where it is cold (the ponds were all frozen over already) and has mediocre music facilities (compared to ball state anyway). Even when I met up with Ms. Seeman and she let me into her office to practice before our lesson, I was trying to shove the sense of ease I felt there (except in her office where the heat blew too hard so it was 80 degrees...and that's not an exageration folks). However, everything changed when I started my lesson with Ms. Seeman. She was so friendly, I didn't feel intimidated by her at all, only a professional kinship. She knows Mrs. Richter very well and also studied with Lucile Lawrence. Her teaching style is a little different from Mrs. Richters however. She is all about knowing the music really well, and teaching how to play it well. She is, I think, a little more technical in her teaching than Mrs. Richter, but musicality is not something I have had problems with. Consistency and accuracy in notes is my main problem. We worked on the opera excerpt Liebestode (sp?) by Wagner and Scintillation by Salzedo. In both she showed me tricks that helped me play passages in both perfect every time, and made me really think about the music and get deep into the middle of it. Afterwards, she told me that if I was the only grad student harpist applying then I would be guaranteed a full tuition waiver, and possibly an assistantship as well. Wow!! I'd get my own harp room and office too. She also told me about a "create your own program" option as well, where instead of just getting my MM in music performance, I could get an MM in orchestra, with emphasis in chamber studies, for example. Which coincidentally is what I want to do. That way, I could take classes that focus around my degree, and possibly not have to take random required classes that I would never use again.


After the lesson we went to dinner with another one of her students (who is playing in the philharmonic for the concert) and her family at a sandwhich shoppe called the Potbelly. Now, if you have been there, you know what I am talking about. If you haven't been there, its AWSOME!! When I first came to Ball state, it was the first time I had Jimmy John's. And I promptly quit Subway. Potbelly is better than Jimmy Johns. Their bread is amazing. Did I say that already? Anyway, so good. After dinner, we went to hear Sara (her student) play in the concert. They played a piece by Brahms, Scheherezade, and a horn concerto by Mozart. And the horn player even did it without music (wind and brass players usually always play with music). He was really good. Before the concert, I got to the meet the Meastro. I was suprised in rehearsal to find out it was a woman...there are so few good women conductors so I was instantly hesitant....until I met her. She is so nice, and actually pays attention to the harps!! She knows the music she is conducting and everyone I talked to loves her and respects her so much as a conductor. Wow.

I spent the night with the Coordinator for Graduate Studies in the music school and his wife. They had grown daughters and apparently offer thier house to many ppl. They were so nice, and thier house was beautiful. The director once again informed me that, if I would apply and commit to come, he would do everything to make sure it could happen...even if it involved giving me an assistantship. Wow. I was constantly in the position where ppl were telling me how much they wanted me there, how the harp studio needed to be built up (this is Ms. Seemans first year there) and how much music they had on the shelves waiting for a harpist to play (chamber and orchesta). There is so much outside work to do too. And Ms. Seeman said she would teach me how to arrange my own music for various small ensembles. Wow. Ok, so that was my NIU experience, which was pretty cool. And Mrs. Seeman laughed at me all night becuase I actually had brought my fish Oscar on the road with me (at some point in the night I had to get him out of my car before he froze, so we took him up to her sauna of an office). She thought it was hilarious...so did I for that matter.

The next morning I thanked the family I stayed with and decided to take a closer look at the campus before leaving. The side that the music building was on was very pretty. There was a pond in the back that was still frozen, and the sun hitting it was beautiful. There was also this random husky dog statue with a camera around its neck. Don't know the story behind that one (although the school mascot is a husky). There was even this one building that reminded me of hogwarts...very castle-looking building. Here is also a pic of the biggest, fattest squirrel I have ever seen....he was like, a trucker squirrel. And he was following me..........




After my tour I made the long 4 hour drive through the south side of the Chicago area to Lafayette, IN to spend Thanksgiving there with the Bells (swimming family friends, you remember?). Jeff's parents were spending the holiday there too. I was stunned at how much Mansi had grown (she is 3), both intellectually and physically. And she doesn't stop. She never did, the whole time I was there. She is like the energizer bunny, except probably went longer than the energizer bunny ever could at one time. I was a little exhausting, but it was also incredibly fun to be there. I love spending time with them, even if I don't contribute too much to the conversations...I tend to be a more restful, quiter person than some. Wednesday night we went to a Greek Diner. It was surprisingly good! I'll have to make a note to go there again if I am there. Their Gyros, greek salad, and lemon soup were really good...as well as thier pita bread. YUM!!

Thanksgiving was Mexican themed. We had homemade enchiladas, queso, torilla soup, mexican style corn, and tamales (though these were not made by the Bells). So good!! Especially the tortilla soup. And I made mine extra spicy...cause I am obsessed with spicy food right now. They had some habenero mustard there that was really good. I'll have to get some. I made fruit salad too. I also tried this new thing called sugar creme pie. Apparently, you can only get it in Indiana. It was really good too....really sweet, but good!! We also watched the Detroit/Tennessee game. I am starting to really like football now....who'd have thought? I blame it on the Petersons...and the fact that Ball state is 12-0 in their region. But we are still ranked like 15th becuase of the bogus system. They should let Ball State play against one of the big 1o to see how they do. At least we get a bowl game. That night we played mexican train with some new dominos that Nikki's parents found...they have numbers on them instead of dots. Weird huh? Funny thing, I actually thought they were harder to play with than the dotted dominoes, even if they were colored like a box of crayons.

Well this morning (Black Friday)I got up early and decided to extend my roadtrip to Fort Wayne. Glenn Beck, conservative talk-radio and cable show host and book author, came out with a new book called the Christmas Sweater. Most of his other books have been politically or econimically based, but this one is so different. It tells a fictional story of true events that have happened in his life that is both painful and sacred to him. I won't go too much into it because you should go out and get the book if you don't have it. But it is basically about redemtion and foregiveness and second chances. Don't worry, it's not an "inspirationally-themed" read. It is actually a story, and it is so good I stayed up until 4 in the morning reading it. Well his book-signing tour took him to Fort Wayne this morning. And I was determined to go. You may now proceed to the above post.

if time never flew before it sure will now.

On monday I will only have 5 more weeks in Muncie.
5!!!!!!!

we can't all be morning ppl.

OK, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT COULD GET STRESSED OUT THIS CLOSE TO THE END OF EVERYTHING...THE END OF SEMESTER, SCHOOL, INDIANA....I HAD NO IDEA! CAN YOU EVEN COMPREHEND WHAT I AM FEELING RIGHT NOW? I FEEL LIKE MY WHOLE WORLD IS ABOUT TO BOTTOM OUT I'M NOT SURE WHAT TO DO AND MY FINAL PROJECT IS LITERALLY GOING TO DRAIN ME IT I'M NOT CAREFUL. MY PROFESSOR THINKS HE IS SO FUNNY WHEN HE GIVES US A PIECE TO ARRANGE AND I CANT EVEN TELL WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE AND I ONLY HAVE 3 WEEKS TO DO IT!!!! PLUS I GOT A 90 ON MY LAST PROJECT WHICH IS STUPID BECUASE I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY GOOD AND I DON'T CARE IF HE THINKS I SHOULD HAVE USED MY BRASS SECTION MORE I WANTED IT TO SOUND THE WAY THAT I WROTE IT: FOR PURE COLOR CONTRAST. I DON'T THINK I SHOULD GET POINTS COUNTED OFF BECUASE OF THAT ITS NOT FAIR AND I'M ABOUT TO AUDITION FOR GRAD SCHOOLS AND I'M SO CONFUSED BECAUSE NOW I AM SECOND GUESSING WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE AND I'M GETTING THOUGHTS IN THE BACK OF MY MIND THAT MAYBE I SHOULD GO ON A MISSION FIRST BUT I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS BECUASE I ALSO WANT TO FINISH SCHOOL AND GET MARRIED AND HAVE A FAMILY AND I DON'T WANT TO BE 27 AND OLD BY THE TIME THAT HAPPENS SO I'M JUST SO CONFUSED!!!!!!

Thanks for listening to my rant

:O.

Headline: School teacher browbeats student over being a McCain supporter

This is going to make you sick!!! I am not even kidding. I have a link here to a video that will blow your mind. It is horrible!! This elementary school teacher is browbashing a student in her class who said that she supported John McCain. Her dad is in the army, and the teacher confronted this little girl about it. Then in an interview, she says that she would never do what she just did!!

The saddest part about this?? It was a Finnish documentary of Americans and the then-coming election. This was not shown in the U.S. Why do we not show our own abuse in our own country??!! What is our country coming to? Why do we not stand up for what we believe in?? If you care, please share this video and message with as many ppl as you can. We need to stand up for our schools, and we need to keep each other informed and to not let people like this get away with such horrifying discrimination and verbal abuse....especially to our children!! I am no longer going to keep my mouth shut. I'm going to stand up for what I believe in. How about you? We need to pray that our new President will be blessed with the insight to run our country with as much wisdom as he is able/willing to recieve.

Watch the video here.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Last night was the best concert ever. I played in it. It was a combined Symphony Band (the one I was in) and Wind Ensemble. Even better, it was a Halloween Concert!! Thats right. The concert was completely decked out in ghosts, pumpkins, spiderwebs, wallhangings, and lanturns everywhere. We played on the first half of it...Mars (the Bringer of War) from the Holst Planet series, Danse Macabre by Saint-Seans, Night on Bald Mountain (ever watched the original Fantasia? It's the one with the gargoyle on the mountain), and a really cool piece called Voodoo.

DKAL (Mr. Kalatarian, the band conductor) came in for the first piece dressed as Charlie Cardinal. For those who don't know he is our sports mascot....and he was completely in character. It was so funny. On night on bald mountain he was dressed up as the cowardly lion....and was completely in character as well. Awsome stuff. And no one knew what his costume was beforehand so it was all we could do to keep from laughing on stage. (He had told everyone the night before that he needed a pair of white marching band shoes and if someone had an old pair to bring for him...all just to throw us off of course.

The Voodoo piece was especially awsome. For this piece, we turned out all the lights and played it in the dark (well, I didn't actually get to "play" but I participated). It starts out all creepy with wind and vocal sounds, with the occasional flashlight blinking intot he audience, then builds into a music section, then goes into a haunting section where we are all saying "voooooodooooo" really creepy-like, then it goes into some tribal-sounding percussive section. Some people are passing thier hand over the flashlights pointed at the ceiling so it looks like fire torches. Then everyone screams and starts chanting and clapping with really cool drums in the background, like a tribal dance. Now while all this "tribal" stuff is going, there are students spaced in the audience with flashlights, shining if briefly on their faces and then moving the flashlights all crazy around the audience. It was fun to watch the audience's reactions. Some were pretty scared. Well then it goes all black again while the band winds up to the climax very dramatic-like, and we all stomp our feet on the stage and yell "Voodoo!!" while holding the flashlights to our faces. I can't even really describe it it was so cool. If I ever get a video of it, I will post it. I should have gotten one at the dress rehearsal...oh well.

The second half was pretty cool too. The first piece....I don't even know what the first piece was, but it was a bunch of shorter movements that got really old after about the 6th one (there were like 10 of them). But the next piece was "Godzilla eats Las Vegas" and it was pretty cool. The ensemble did all the effects during the "story," such as clapping, sighing in relief, marching (with thier feet), screaming, screaming "Godzilla" and etc. There was a screen which they projected the story with what looks a homemade animated movie (ever seen Charlie the Unicorn...those kind of graphics) depicting the story. It was hilarious. Their last piece was different, called "Cave of the Winds." Everyone took off thier stands and chairs, and then it gets dark while they get into place on the stage. A narrator comes on, talking about how these cave dwellers live in a tiny cave node that never gets sunlight. "This node is located about 3 miles under the earth's crust, under the Field in Muncie." That part was funny. But he talks breifly how the musicians use thier syncronized heartbeat to play thier music by feel, becuase there is no need tot see, yadda yadda. So the lights come back on and everyone is in black wearing sunglasses. There are various plants set up on stage, and each group is organized someway around them. The bassoons are in teh middle, the clarinets and oboes walk in a circle around another plant, the flutes are peeking from behing another, the tubas are doing thier own weird things by another. Some are playing to the plants. There is a balcony at the back of the stage where the pipes for the organ sit, and there were ppl up there too. So they just played while doing thier own little wierd dances or movements. It was pretty cool I guess. The tubas were especially fun to watch....at one point they walked across stage, off down the steps, in front the stage, and then back on to thier spot....well they didn't walk, it was shuffling really fast so that thier bodies never seemed to move...it was funny. Guess you really had to be there though.

There were some pretty good costumes...I saw the Jokere (very realistic and completely in character...and he sounded exactly like him), a music stand, homer simpson, Bill Nye, a bunch of grapes, the whole clarinet section dressed up as different characters to Alice in Wonderland, a ninja turtle, a creepy rag doll, a banana, and the wind ensemble percussion section all dressed up as nuns (which was especially funny since all but one are guys). Ashley and I didn't want to do the cliche "Angels play harps," so we dressed up as sinister beings, very evil witih cloaks. Ashley had wings, so she was an evil angel, or dark angel. I didn't have wings, but I had a cool dress on that had huge embroidered wide sleeves and an embroidered hood...so I guess I was this evil scorceress or priestess. We did out hair and put lots of eyemakeup on. It was awsome. Afterwards, I wanted to go out becuase I had a pair of little butterfly wings and small plasic antennae that I really wanted to wear. I put on my jeans and a longsleeved black v-neck with them. I called up my friend and we went to steak n' shake to get icecream. I felt magical....plus I still had my big hair and eyemakeup. In fact, I still have my big hair this morning...that's going to be a pain in the butt to wash out, since it is practically stiff with so much product.

So i think i'm going to go eat breakfast now. This was probably a really boring post. I have noticed that whenever I start spouting off about music ppl tend to tune me out...but thats ok I forgive you. Happens all the time.

helpful tips 101: "makeup spill...oops"

~I have decided to start "helpful tips" where I tell you things that I think could help you...things I have had to find out the hard way or simply by accident, like this entry, the inspiration that started it.~

Ladies, have you ever been in this situation:

You're in the process of putting on your makeup. While you are applying some sort of liquid makeup, it drips onto your shirt. You think to yourself "oh snap" (or enter word of choice here) becuase you know that makeup stains are super hard to get out and usually smear, and sometimes do not come out depending on the material and what you spilled. Yeah. I was there Saturday. Let me tell you a solution that I have found that works great on knits.

I was sitting in the car, reapplying makeup before going into the mall. I use liquid coverup. It dripped onto my sweater. "Oh snap!!!" Well, not sure what I should do, and not wanting it to dry but at the same time not wanting it to spread, I took a piece of ice out of the 16 0z paper cup of water I had gotten with my meal. I pressed the corner to the makeup spot and rubbed it around just slightly. At first I thought I had made it worse becuase the makeup got all watery and seemed to expand. I quickly took a napkin out of the glove box and pressed it to the new watery makeup spot. When I lifted it away however, most of the makeup had absorbed into the napkin and out of the sweater. Excited now, I repeated this process 3 times and got all the makeup out.

So here is my solution for getting liquid makeup out of knits (I say knits and sweaters, I have not actually tested this on other materials). The fresher the stain or spill, the better this will work. Take a piece of ice and rub the corner onto the makeup until it is pretty watery-looking (only takes a few seconds). Next take a napkin/toilet paper/tissue or other thin highly absorbent material and press onto newly watered-down makeup spot (do not rub!!). Repeat as necessary.

oh snap!!!

WHEW!!! Ok, so my midterm actually went really well! I studied hard, and studied the right things!!!! It is amazing how hard you can study sometimes and do terrible...cause you studied the WRONG things. Most of the questions were strait from the previous quizzes. Sweet!!! Becuase I actually studied my quizzes and the correct answers to them. Imagine that. And I turned in my project. And remember that brass arrangement of Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag I told you about earlier?? Got it back with FULL POINTS!!! Oh, and on top of that my rehearsals for symphony band and women's chorus went really well too. So a good day. I am happy right now. And this was the fruits of my labor right here...(i've discovered how to add video hehe)


(Hey kim, are you up again tonight?? Behold...and actually it wasn't that hard just took a long time hehe)

So now what am I doing now?? Actually, right now I'm studying for another midterm...this time for my weight training class, and most of it is no-brainer stuff. I can't believe I'm actually studying for it, I could probably go in tomorrow morning, take it without haveing looked at the book, and been fine. But, this is me, so I have to at least look at the material...so far I haven't read anything I didn't know or couldn't have guessed for myself. Great.

In other news...
I'm trying to stop saying the word "crap" when something unpleasant is happening or has happened...you know, like "oh my gosh" except I say "crap." I got hooked onto this word in high school...not becuase I thought is was a cool word to say, but that everyone was saying it and it just kinda stuck. (At least I didn't get hooked on a swear word, that would've been bad...) However, it is still not a very nice word, and kinda vulgar when you think about it. So I've been trying to replace it. There was one year I started saying "stripes" instead. It didn't stick, but I got another person saying that now instead of swear words so I guess it did some good. My old roommate last year got me saying "Grr" and "rawr," which I still use but they are more like sound effects. So I was watching Chicken Little the other day (I love that movie!!) and whenever something goes wrong he says "Oh snap." I thought, "that's awsome!!" and now that is what I am going to try to say for now on. And if anyone catches me saying "crap" again, I give you permission to take away my peanut butter....oh wait, I don't know if i could give that up...hmm, not my cookiedough either...how about to shamelessly laugh at my face while drinking milkshakes? That's a fair compromise right??

Anyone need a nightcap??

So guess what i'm supposed to be doing right now...even though it is almost 2 in the morning...and it's not sleeping. Nope!! I'm not sleeping tonight. I'm supposed to be studying for my midterm tomorrow, but I hate studying. So i'm taking a "break." Who likes to study....seriously??

Ok i'd just like to put this down. I'm not outspoken. Most of the time I'm pretty quiet. I laugh at jokes, smile and nod, and even say a few words now and again. That doesn't mean I can't have fun or be crazy or go out and have a good time...because I can, and do sometimes. But unless you are carrying on a real conversation with real topics and really actually talking about real things, i'm probably not going to participate much in the "talking." I'm all for the witty banter...I just can't do it myself very well. Too nice I guess, that's what i've been told anyway. Ok I just really needed to rant about that...thanks for listening.

So this weekend has been like SUPER CRAZY!!!! Let me tell you how absulotely crazy. I have this big midterm project that is due tomorrow (or today actually). I have to arrange a Chopin etude for brass, strings, percussion and piano. Actually I chose those instruments but I had to choose them from among others. But that's beside the point. I have to do this project on a music arranging and composing software called Finale. Let me tell you what I think of Finale. RAWR!!!!! It's just plain silly! Finale was programmed by the computer nerds who wanted to write music. The way it is put together is awful. You can't find anything, and its more oriented toward a computer nerd process of thought rather than a musician. Now on the other hand, Sebelius is another composing software that is like Finale only it is a software programmed by musicians for musicians. Much better.

Anyway, I have to use Finale and the only place to do it is in the music computer lab, which is only open at odd hours in the day. I never have time to get in there and work on it! So that is what I have been doing all weekend. TRYING to get into the computer lab. Well, after getting someone to open the lab and let me in, I sat in a vinyl chair (actually I don't know what kind of chair it is but I've always wanted to use that word) for 6 hours and finished my project. FINALLY!!! But no, no freedom yet. I still have to study for this midterm in the same class that should have been last week, but he cancelled it. Blah. So now I have to try to make sure I know everything for the midterm as well too. Plus I have a rehearsal tomorrow that I'm not ready for becuase some of the music is not up to tempo. We'll see how it goes. After wednesday afternoon, I'll be able to breathe again. So I guess I should get back to studying...stupid tests...

Oh...and it's cold and wet outside. I don't mind wet, but its too cold!!!! brrrr.......

weather blurb

Ok, remember when I said that it has been getting cold out lately?? I take it all back. It is hot here!! It was 85 today!! What is with that? Not that I'm complaining, I'm a very warm-weathered person. I just wish the weather would make up its mind! Last week was 50s for crying out loud (and I am, on the inside at least). This is Indiana weather for you though. It is sillier than Texas weather, which is really silly as far as storms go (they just pop up out of nowhere). Here it's the temperature (which is worse), and sometimes precipitation, which adds massive confusion.


For example....


Last winter was so stupid. It would snow, then get warm after a couple days, rain, get cold for couple days, freeze, snow some more, get warm and rain again. I think the longest cycle was 2 weeks between cold spells. This happened ALL WINTER!!! And can you imagine the mess?? Everything was always soggy because it would snow then melt a couple days later, then rain on top of it. And this isn't just an inch of snow. It would snow several inches (like at least 5) every time, then rain again. Ick. I don't care at this point if it is warm or cold outside (though I prefer warm) but it should either just stay warm, or stay cold. REALLY!!

OMGsh!! I love handbags!! Don't you??

waking up is overrated

Sometimes I'm like this.

Sometimes i'm more like this:

Yeah. It really is. For me. You have no idea....then again, maybe you do. I am pathetic when it comes to waking up in the morning...I hate it. There is rarely anything more satisfying than waking up all warm under your covers, not wanting to get up becuase you know it is FREEZING out there...yeah...you know.

Take this morning. It has been getting cold outside lately, so this morning I woke up grudgingly to my alarm at 8am. I was all warm and toasty. I REALLY didn't want to get up, but I had a class at 9, and I had already missed it on Monday becuase I didn't wake up. Here's the bigger issue with me...

I have to set at least 2 alarm clocks to get me up. sometimes I even set 3 or 4, and set them in various places around the room. One of my alarms is usually my old phone, with the mono sound that is really loud and obnoxious. I'll lay down and get settled, then set the alarm on it, then toss it somewhere across the room so the next morning i have to hunt for it, and it forces me out of bed. This works pretty well since my room is usually cluttered somewhat. Even still though, if I know I have time to sleep a little more, I'll get back in bed, hold my phone in my hand, and snooze the alarm several times. Usually when I sleep, I am on my side and i don't move. When I snooze, however, I turn onto my stomach, with my head facing one wall, and everytime I hit the snooze, i'll turn my head so that it is facing the other wall. I will do this until i'm coherent enough to realize that maybe I should get up. Which is bad becuase studies say that snoozing actually makes you more tired than if you just get up the first time.

Pathetic yes??

...I saw an ad for an alarm clock that rolls off your endtable so you have to chase it to turn the alarm off. Crazy huh...

saturday, september 20, 2008 - senior recital part I

Ok, my senior recital!! Man was it a crazy weekend. There were so many things I had to do...such as get cups and napkins and platters, not to mention what I was going to do about food. I'd like to say I was a complete wreck, but somehow I remained very calm and somewhat less nervous than I would have originally thought. Nevertheless, here is a recounting of my weekend.

I woke up Friday morning in the usual routine...hitting the snooze button on BOTH of my alarm clocks for like an hour before I am awake enough to realize I should get up (I have now decided to devote an entire chapter to my sleeping habits. You would laugh). So I rolled out of bed, not bothering to shower, and went to work at 9am. I get home by 11am, drop my stuff off, and get in my car to proceed to run all the errands I had been putting off for this weekend. After making sure I didn't need gas and stopping into the bank to deposit some checks, I headed over to the Dollar General, which happened to be right next door on the strip. I went in knowing that I could get a white tablecloth for, guess how much, a dollar. As i pulled it off the rack in the party section, I noticed the napkins. I am a sucker for arranging and wanting colors to match and be thematic. So I started looking at different colored plates and napkins. I already had some at home, but black would look classy for a music recital, i thought. This is my downfall....I can't make up my mind about things very fast. I probably stood there in the party aisle for like 10 minutes trying to decide to get colored plates and napkins. I finally decided that after I would decide while I was running other errands and come back later. So I went around to the other side of the store where I happened to see some excellent cheap platters, two smaller silver and two large, round and clear. They would be perfect for putting cupcakes and fruit on (which is what I had decided to make). I also picked up some wood polishing cloths. I thought I could find some better napkins at Hobby Lobby, like something bright and totally crazy or funny that would say a little about me. I found these cute napkins of jeans and bandana pattern, with Texas Rodeo printed on them. I resisted buying them.

I didn't like how my dress was not very flattering in the waist and thought I could make it look better if I tacked the back in a little. So I looked for something to use that would be temporary at both hobby lobby and Joanns, but found nothing. I decided to resort to earring studs if I really wanted to mess with it later.

Next, I went over to the mall to look for a necklace. I didn't have anything really fancy that matched the style of my dress, and claires usually have sets of matching earrings and necklaces. I also wanted to find some way to put my hair up, since it is now short and I wanted to do something different than usual and make it look fancy. The lady at Claires was really helpful, even doing up my hair right there in the store using various hair accessories that were there. It was pretty cool, and I have a new way to wear my hair (esp. when its dirty and I don't feel like completely washing and drying it). I wasn't sure, so I went to Target and Sally Beauty supply to see if they had anything better, though I ended up getting some velcro rollers, which I love!! But going back to Claires and bought gator clips in varying sizes, the big one silver and the small ones bold pink. I also found the perfect jewelry for my dress. Stopping at Aunt Annie's on the way out, I headed next to Party City to search for napkins and punch cups. The cups were easy enough to find, but they had so many different themes napkins there I didn't know what to do with myself. I started down one aisle though and came across the PERFECT napkins. It was as if light from heaven were shining down upon them (though it could have been the bright flourecent light right above my head too). Printed in that slightly fuzzy way in which most napkins are printed, was a picture of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, two of the newest My Little Ponies. They were perfect for a night devoted to ME. I bought them. (Note to self--write a chapter on My Little Pony.)

Happily checking out, I headed to Walmart to buy my cupcake mix. My favorite cupcakes are Betty Crocker's Rainbow Chip, complete with Rainbow Chip iceing. I could eat that stuff out of the jar...and I do. Becuase I didn't want to seem selfish, I also bought a box of chocolate. After that, I went to the fruit section. I couldn't decide what to get besides strawberries, but i wanted the colors to contrast nicely, so something green. I called my BF to ascertain her opinion, and we both decided that grapes would be a better choice than apples, which would turn brown. I headed home, it being about 4 in the afternoon by this point (I am terrible at running errands, as I have mentioned). I got home and anxiously awaited for when my family would show up, as they were getting to Muncie around 6. Well, finally they gave me a call saying they were in town. I gave them the directions to my house. They parked in the back where my car was, and came around to the front porch, where I was. But the person who rounded the corner first was not either of the two ppl I was expecting. It was my 15-year-old sister Aly!! Although, i was not surprised to see her at all, since she was the only one out of the four of us still living at home, I figured in the back of my head that mom and dad would bring her. The next person, however, was not mom or dad either. It was Grandma!! I have to admit, I was completely surprised to see her there, and I got over the shock enough to be excited and hugged her. Mom and Dad came around next. I was so touched that they all came to see me play, even though now it sometimes seems silly. All that attention for 1 1/2 hours of playing....seems kind of anticlimactic sometimes when I think about it, though knowing at the same time that this is a major stepping stone for me. So we all went out to eat at Red Lobsters, though there was some indecision on my part between that or Texas Road House. To make a long story not as long, the cheddar bay busquits were AMAZING!!!

sticky rice and other tales

So this past Sunday I made sweet sticky rice for the first time. It is a Thai recipe, which we were introduced to when my Thai sister was here. It actually is pretty good, though not as good as the sweet sticky rice that we had at the Thai restaurant in Coppell back at home. Still, I sliced up some nectarine witih it (becuase my mango was not ripe yet) and it goes really well with it too. I can't wait to make some coconut soup next!!

Well, the sweet sticky rice did not go over very well when I brought it to Break the Fast Sunday afternoon. I think everyone was scared of it. That is ok, becuase now it is all for me!! I love the stuff, i've already eaten almost a whole pan by myself in the last couple days....mmmm....

I talked to Noon again on Tuesday! I miss her so much...she is tutoring now for a test similar to the SAT she tells me. Good luck Noon!!

I want to post about my senior recital but I still don't have any pics yet from Dad. So I'll just have to wait to post it. It was a pretty awsome (and stressful) day and I can't wait to tell about it.

Other than that, not much has happened to me of late. I failed a quiz this week in my orchestration class...it was horrible. I remember studying about all the stuff, but when it came down to it, I couldn't remember. I even had to leave one question blank. ick. I'm making good grades on my projects though. Our next one is arrangeing Scott Jopoin's Maple Leaf Rag for Brass choir (trumpets, tombones, horns, and tuba). I think it might actually be fun to arrange, since it is a piece I like. I really want to make a good grade in this class so it doesn't bring my GPA down, but in the end I think I will just be happy that its over. December is so close....its October already!! Speaking of October...I want to dress up this year, wear some sort of wings, maybe butterfly or angels wings. I could go completely against the steriotype of the harpist and where devil horns, that would be funny. But I probably wouldn't. Maybe cat ears??? I am playing for the Halloween wind ensemble concert, and we are performing Danse Macabre from Saint-Saens. And we are dressing up for it. How cool is that?!

my new do!!!

Thinking about things I could post about, i have decided to dedicate this one to my hair. For those who are unaware, I am extremely vain about my hair. So, when I got a new haircut this summer, needless to say I was excited. My hair was way to long and it was time for a change. So I drove myself down to Carrolton to the Paul Mitchell Academy there (becuase you know they will cut your hair for cheap), parked my car, and proceeded with growing excitement into the small but conventional waiting area. After confirming my appointment, one of the girl's led me to the back, where this huge warehouse area had been converted into about 50 hair stations. I kinda knew how I wanted my hair but I wasn't sure. So we started with a simple chop, since I was going to donate my hair. They took my long ponytail, and though they proceeded to just "chop" it off, it was more like sawing, since my fine hair is so thick. Wow, that was a lot of hair for 12 inches. The shampooing is my favorite part. After, two or three girls played around with my hair until I deemed it "perfect!!" (Just a note to those going for a new short style--this is NOT the way to go...i was there for 3 hours!!) After i was all styled up and paying, I asked the girl at the desk how old I looked. To my joy, she said "22" which of course is exactly my age. To not look like I am 16, or even 18!! It was a happiness I could not explain. (Although last week someone thought I was a freshman....I'm a 5th year for crying out loud!!) So I went home, showed off my new do to the fam, all of which loved it. I just wish I was still a brunette....sigh....

my first post!!

Ok, so here is my first post. I dont really know what to say, so I'll just say a little about myself. My name is Michelle Heuer, i'm from Dallas TX. I'm currently at Ball State University. Oh wait, I said all that in my "about me" section didn't I. Oh yeah, and anybody reading already knows who I am am, obviously. Let's try this again....

So a lot has happened to me in my life. I don't know where to begin. Most of you know the basics...I was a geeky looking little kid with the huge 90s style glasses and strait bangs. Then again, most of you know I hate pics of myself, and if i don't post a lot of myself that is why...but I won't go into that. I started playing piano at age 5 and harp at age 8. I must love music a lot becuase that is what I'm going to college for: music performance, with harp as my primary and cello as my secondary. Yes, i did say cello. I'm taking lessons! It's pretty cool, i wish I could have learned a string instrument earlier. I used to be shy...i think that mainly started when my family moved from The Woodlands to Dallas, and I had to start all over with friends. I don't really remember if I was shy before that. I remember a couple of best friends...Danika, Bridgette, and of course Stephanie (good times). I love my family, and everyone who might read this, becuase you would be ppl that care and support me. Christmas and Thanksgiving are the best...since I get to see a lot of family. I miss going on road trips to Utah for Christmas...now we usually just fly cuase it's cheaper...and its not as fun becuase i have to help drive if that were the case. By the way, Christmas lights are the best :)

Hmm...I guess i'll start with this summer...since i actually have pics of it. I went to Hot Springs Music Festival. And it was a BLAST. I mean it. 2 full weeks of playing, practicing and rehearsals from 9-5, most days double rehearsals, and concerts at night. This is orchestra rehearsals, by the way. We performed 4 full concerts in 2 weeks...which is a lot...actually there were 5 but there are no harps on Haydn's Creation. Needless to say, I was exhuasted after just a week. I met a cool girl, Jacqueline that actually lives in Plano, close to me (home in Dallas). She loves the outdoors, like me. She plays the violin. My roommate, Christina, plays the viola. she is sooo funny!!! And Vienn, she is from Hong Kong, super tiny, but an amazing violinist. She has a way of saying things that makes everyone smile. They are all Asian too...its funny i have so many Asian friends i feel half asian sometimes. It's impossible to dislike any one of the three.

Me and Jacqueline

Vienn and Christina

And Shana, my mentor, she is amazing. She is from Austin, plays in orchestras, an Indian band, a celtic band, a neighborhood band, and a polka band. this band she plays on her accordian...its the coolest thing ever. We played a piece called Slughter on 10th Avenue...for small orchestra (including harp), accordian, and banjo. We even had a real local police officer come in and fire a real blank for the gunshot part. it was loud!! She also played a really cool piece called Beauty and the Beast. It is for antique tractor and pedal harp. And so you are wondering...how does a tractor play? By gunning the motor thats how. And the harp does glissandos in different keys and rhythms. Here are some pics.

This was the music...yikes!!

The town of Hot Springs is so cool too. We were located in the historic district, which is a strip full of tiny private shops and restaurants. The Pancake Shop...oh they make REAL fresh squeezed OJ and have the best eggs and sausage, all local raised, and pancakes the size of a dinner plate. And the apple butter...don't even get me started. There are the histroric bathhouses there too, as well as tons of art galleries. You can even get fresh hot sping water from a huge fountain in the middle of the district...drink it while its hot, its soooo good!!

Me and Meistro Richard Rosenberg. We performed in the high school fieldhouse.

We also had a Thai exchange student living with us. Noon, my Thai sister. I love her, and still talk to her on Skype sometimes. She intruduced me to Thai food. Can I just say....YUM!!! It is now my favorite food. I have some recipes and I will try some out next week. She is soooo funny though!! She taught me a lot about her culture and even taught me some basic Thai words. Sawadee ka!! It means hello. It is really hard, because it is a tonal language, and each inflection means something different. But Noon says that my pronunciation is really good for an American and that I could learn it really well. That makes me happy, and want to learn Thai. I miss you Sis!!!

Well me and fam went to San Diego and a mini cruise to Cabo San Lucas. Before we got on the boat we toured the old pirate and merchant ships docked there. I'd never been on an old-fashioned ship before. We looked at the ship that was sailed for the movie "Master and Commander". We also looked at an old submarine. Tell you what I wouldn't want to live in one of those. The trip to Cabo was good. I love cruises, becuase you can eat good food any time of day and just lay out on the deck and sunbathe while reading. Good times. Cabo was beautiful. I'd post some pics but my pc is being stupid, so i'll post them later. We did a regada excursion, and helped to sail a real Amerca's Cup racing sailboat, which requires a team of at least 20 so grind cranks and do other various jobs to make the boat go fast. it is hard work but it is lot so fun.
When we got back to San Diego we spent a day and a morning on the beach and surfed...its really fun...i even got filmed surfing. someone was out with the big commercial cameras filming ppl, but i have no idea what they were there for. So maybe i'll be on tv somewhere! The other day Kim and Aly and I went to SeaWorld. I love animals, esp. dolphins, did you know?? SeaWorld was soooo cool. We saw Shamu and dolphins and sea otters. My favorite exhibit there was the bat rays, hands down. They are so sweet and really kinda cute looking. They had a place where you could pet them and feed them pieces of fish. You put the fish in between your fingers, stick it down about a foot, and the rays will swim over your hand and suck the fish up. They would just sit there too and loved to be pet. We went on a behind the scenes tour which took us back behind some of the gates. We walked though an area that had a couple of large tanks. One was for "timeout", when some of the animals weren't working well together or with thier trainers and they get special one on one time with them. The other two were connected and had a mother dolphin and and her couple week old baby! The personnel didn't even know if it was a boy or girl yet becuase they want time for it to bond to the mother before it has contact with humans. It was sooo cute and small!! We also saw a bunch of wild rescued otters and seals, that they take care of until they are ready to be released back into the ocean. And we got to pet sharks...the tiny kind that have suction mouths, but still sharks. And guess what...anyone can be a trainer as long as they have a college degree, is scuba certified, and is a strong swimmer. So even I could be a trainer if I wanted to. Training sealions would be fun...their acts are more like comedy plays. And they make fun of all the other shows.

Ok, so that was all the fun stuff this summer. I supervised at a community pool in Wylie for money. It was actually a good deal becuase I got paid $11 an hour. The downside was working for the YMCA...something less than pleasant in the Dallas area. I won't even go into that. I don't particularly like lifeguarding, but i'll do it if it pays enough. Flipside, I got a GREAT tan. I also got to coach a little with my mom and coaches Brad and Tom for Rockwall Riptides swimteam and went with them to Lonestar, their Y-sponsored state meet. I love coaching age group. I hope in the future I can do more of it. Oh, and I practiced of course, getting ready for my recital.
I then drove back to school in August. And that was my summer. Wow, that was a long post.