Hot Springs AR: Day 1

I'm not sure if I can post pics right now. I would like to, but this dinky little computer I'm on is so outdated that half the other dinky computers in this tiny lab are not working. Don't get me wrong!! I'm totally grateful to have internet at all right now, even if the hours are limited and the security only lets me get on a handful of sights. I was actually surprised it let me onto blogspot.

Right now I'm in Hot Springs, AR. The little town of Hot Springs, right in the center of Hot Springs Natl Park. It's pretty amazing here. I came here (and last year) to participate in the Hot Springs Music Festival. Apparently my resume and recording were impressive enough to make it in as an apprentice last year. As an apprentice, I come and play my brains out in rehearsals and concerts for two weeks on full scholorship. In other words, they pay for me to come and play my brains out and all I have to do is bring my harp, clothes, and money for food. The harp mentor, Shana, told me that if I wanted to come back, she would take my application first. So here I am, out in the hot woods of the south. I surprised a lot of ppl with my new haircut too, including my roommate from last year who I thought was going to have a heart attack when she saw me...

So today was my first day. I got in yesterday evening. Funny story. The key for room they gave me and had me signed up for had a guy already in it. So I just walk in, thinking it's my roomie from last year (we requested each other but we didn't get each other in the end) and there is a guy sitting on the bed. I ask if this is his room and he says "yep." We discuss briefly what room it is and if we had a coed room on purpose, we agree "no," and I go back downstairs, slightly embarrassed and greatly relieved that I didn't walk in to find something less innocent than a guy sitting on the bed...yeah...
So then they looked, sure enough I was signed up for that room, and they issued me another key, and said it was a single. Well, it wasn't. But that's ok becuase my new roomie is really nice and, most importantly, a girl.

So I was going to get up at 7am with the intention of running...only to be woken up by one of the girls in the room adjacent that we share a shower with at 6:15 in the morning. I try to go back to sleep, but it's no good. I lay there for a while, and finally get up at 6:30 when our neighbor is done with the shower. And then I remembered it was Sunday. So I got up earlier than I intended, and didn't go running. Usually in these situations you would sleep in. That's life in an old, zero sound insulated dorm building for ya. At least I got to do my hair all nice :)

So I met with my mentor (I'm the only harp apprentice) at 9am and we went over the music we had to know for rehearsal this afternoon at 2pm. Mind you I had only gotten the music the night before, so I was sightreading. But, I am an excellent sight reader, so we got through the rehearsal pretty well considering. I only missed a few cues.

So here I am. Typing becuase I have nothing else to do and I can't practice anymore today. I haven't really practiced as much as I should lately so I already have blisters on my fingers from playing so many glisses...though if I were in practice shape today's 5 hours of playing would have been blister free. There is a cabaret concert tonight at the Arlington Hotel, so I'm going to go eat before I go. I will try to post some pics later.

P90X

Whew....I am just wiped!! My mom and I finally ordered P90X. For those who don't know what that is it is a hard core 90 day program desiged to get you in excellent shape. The best part, it's designed more for ppl who are already athletes!! (although anyone can do it I might add). You can customize the workouts to fit your athletic ability and your personal goals too. My goals right now is not to necessarily lose weight (you know I'm already small) but to get toned and reduce my overall % body fat. I may be small and I may have muscles but a lot of them are weak and flabby because I don't really use them anymore since I stopped swimming after highschool. So I'm really excited about it, becuase come 90 days (or even over the next month) I'm going to be in a lot better shape. I took "before pics" and I can't wait to take the "after pics."

So I started yesterday (Monday). I did a chest and back workout....which was basically a lot of pullups and pushups...in fact I did sets of about 6 different kinds of pushups. Youch. And if anyone says it's not what it seems, that you don't work that hard or sweat....um I beg to differ. I was sweating buckets!! Well not buckets but there was a lot of sweat. And my arms hurt. I also did 15 minutes of abs. My mom really liked a lot of those and wants to incorporate some of them into our dryland workouts for our groups this summer (we coach swimteam).

Today I did plyometrics, which is basically a lot of jumping around/coordination moves involving a lot of squats and jumping exercises...using those big muscles in your legs gets your heartrate up too...so now my legs are beat. Tomorrow is gonna hurt, but I'm excited.

I know I'm being silly, but I'm a very athletic person and I do care about how I look...mostly I want to be stronger and more confident in myself and I'm tired of not working out enough, a bad habit I got into at college. And I want to be in shape when I eventually have a family and kids so I have better habits and hopefully not gain a lot of weight. So wish me luck!!

Woot!!

Ok people, it's official!! I just accepted the offer of admission to Northern Illinois university!! Go Huskies!! Well ok, their football team sucks but most of you probably already knew that. But hey, I cheer for BSU now anyway (and BYU too). So yeah, it is locked in now, well it will be in 2 days anyway. Off to Chicago, the windy city (also known as the Horridly Frigid Freeze Your Socks Off city). Ok, so NIU is not really in Chicago it's in DeKalb, but it's only an hour away from actual chicago...and there is actually a singles ward not too far away too. so yay!! And the best part...I am 2 hours away from my BFF and her family, and only 5 hours away from my friends and Mrs. Richter in Muncie...so I'll be able to visit everyone!! ROAD TRIP!!

I just thought that was exciting. Yay.

Random thought while it's on my mind....

Do I look 23 to you? Everyone thinks I still look 18 or 19. Except my family, but they see me all the time. What do you think? Why do you think that is??

What you have been missing!!

Ok, so first up is my trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. My friend Janay invited several ppl to go. So we met up and took the dart train down there, which was fun. And then we got lost in downtown trying to read a map that had no compass directions. But we made it there. Apparently, between 5 and 9pm it is free to go. I love art. I have a few favorites. The first favorite is in the light manipulation section. We went through this runnel that looked kinda like a keleideskope (I have no idea how to spell that word) and came out into what I can only describe as "The Orange Room." This was about the coolest room ever. It had nothing in it, except orange lights. The cool part was that the orange sucked all other colors out of the room. It was like walking into a black and white era, except everything was sepia, not black and white. So cool. One of the my favorite painters is Theodore Rousseau...at least I think that is who did this painting (I didn't capture all the aftist's names on my camera):

Another one of my favorites is:Of course, this could be the Rouseau one. Again, not sure. I love how the artist uses the paint to manipulate and simulate light. It really looks 3d, like there really is a real sunset back there! I have noticed though, the thicker they lay on the paint, the "brighter" or more reflective it becomes in the picture.

Afterwards, Janay and Mike (I don't know if it is spelled that way but that is how it sounds) went to McDonalds...well, I had Wendys but ate it in McDonalds, and then Mike wanted to sit in my truckbed and Janay had a blanket so we just sat and talked in my truckbed. We were really tired, and took a million pics (Janay kept closing her eyes), and I couldn't stop thinking about donuts...in the end these two were the best ones (I love the one on the left).

Ok, so the next adventure was washing the dog. Aly was working on her trebuchet with her two partners for physics project. It was nice outside, and they were practicing launching it and tweaking the weight so the ball would go 120 ft. It was cheap entertainment, so me and mom and aly's friend Shanon were just watching. I don't remember how it happened, but I left the back gate open and Cheyenne got out. If you know my dog, then you know she is one of those dogs that runs away from you to go exporing. She always comes back, but not when you tell her to. So she got out. Went everywhere, thankfully has the common sense to stay out of the street when there are cars, and ended up finding a really nasty looking bone out in the marshy area by the lake. So she was NASTY!!! I gave her a bath, which she hated becuase the water was so cold (I don't blame her) but she looked so hilarious all soaking wet and clean I just had to take a pic:

or two...

Next on the list....A NEW HAIRCUT!!!! As you can see in the previous pic of me, my hair is pretty long. I desparately needed a haircut. The way it was cut with it that long, I couldn't even style it to make it look good, so in the end I ended up putting it in a ponytail all the time, which my mom hates. So here is the final product. I got it done a week and 1/2 ago, I think.

Spiffy huh! The hairstylist's name was Sab. He did a really good job. And he actually gave my hair volume and the roots! I have done what he did at home, and I still can't do it like he could. Maybe I need to change my product...and find my round brush, I have no idea where I put it.

Last happening!! Yesterday was Easter. Awsome. I love Easter. I woke up and read the Easter story in the Bible, then practiced. I had to play the hymns for the Singles Ward since the normal girl was away. I played really good, except the last hymn intro. I botched it bad. But that was it. But, somehow everyone remembered and had to tease me about it. Oh well. I also got to wear a flower. My dad bought my mom, sister, and me an orchid to wear to church, which I thought was really cool. And it was really pretty. See?

I want you to notice something. See the clear face? Not so much zits? Especially between the first and last pics of me? Yeah. I'll tell you about it sometime.

So yay!! Got all the happenings on one post. I have thoughts to post too, but maybe not this second...I have to get ready to go coach.

It's been a while....

Ok, so I know it's been a while. I have been really bad about posting. It's not that I haven't meant to, it's just that I haven't really had the time. I have several posts to post, and they have pics (yay for pics!) and it takes a while when you post pics. I am going to try to get everything in 1 or 2 long posts, we'll see. So here goes......

Acceptance!!

Ok, so it's not really as exciting as all that. I got my "unofficial" acceptance letter to the Butler School of Music at UT Austin. While it is very exciting to actually read on paper my "superior level of accomplishment and potential for professional gowth," I already knew I was getting in....well, about 91.6% sure anyway. But yay! One down, 2 to go. My official acceptance for UT will come within a couple weeks....maybe then I'll know how much scholarship I got (if any).

Did I mention 'yay'?

Sigh...

It has occurred to me that I need to post more pics. I don't have enough pics on my blog. I should remember to take more pics so that I can have more pics on my blog. I guess that would have to require a somewhat more social life. Since all the ppl I would call up to go do something live in the midwest. But I am hopefully getting a job at Petco this week so maybe I'll just be working all the time and not have to worry about a social life.



I need a man. Then if I'm only hanging out with one person all the time I will have an excuse. And besides that I really want a man.

UT Austin

Ok, so last week I made the long drive down to University of Texas at Austin for my last audition (I think it was last weekend....no, it was 2 weekends sorry). It was crazy!! Well not really. But you know how UT has one of the biggest "party school" reputations and is really liberal? Yeah, the atmosphere was permeated with it. It was Saturday at the school of music and it still felt that way...and the kids that play classical music are probably the most right wing of the liberals that you would find there.

So anyway I got there, found the PERFECT place to park...right outside on the street so I didn't have to hike a mile with my harp. I was rushing because the rain clouds that followed me all the way to Austin finally started leaking while I was unloading...not too bad though thankfully. I checked in, unloaded my harp, and went up to the 5th level. Yup, the 5th, and that is not even the top floor of the music building, it has 6 floors at least. I have also finally figured out a way to carry ALL my harp stuff at the same time: harp, stool, harp bag, and music bag. So yay one trip! I went to the top floor and found a practice room. I was really hot from carrying all the stuff and turned on the air in the room...until I was not so warm and starting to get chilly. Unfortunately, once I turned off the air again I didn't' warm back up, and I realized just how airconditioned the building was. So I practiced before my audition time with freezing fingers that I could never quite get warm. Thankfully, when I went in to audition, the room was warm, so no cold fingers!!

I played very well. I had already told myself that no matter how good or bad I played, it was ok because I was well prepared and there was nothing else I could have done. But, thankfully I did play very good. I played my Pizzoli Etude no 29, Hanel concerto, and Scintillation. Except, I still didn't get to play all of it!! I was actually secretly upset that they stopped me after 6 pages becuase I had prepared it so well and really wanted to perform the whole thing. But oh well.

After my audition, I packed up everything and loaded the harp wagon back up. Thank goodness it wasn't raining this time.

I found Panda Express on the way home and ate lunch there. Yum! Then back to Dallas...and no more auditions!!! Now I get to play the waiting game. All of the schools have pretty much told me they would accept me, so I'm not worried about getting in somewhere. I just have to wait now to see how much money they will give me, because that is ultimately what it is going to come down to. We'll see in the next month or so.

Chicago!!

Ok, so the plane flight was pretty good. Long again though. This time I just read my new book. It is called Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. I really liked it...there is some action, intrigue, politics, and romance. Some parts were predictable but I really liked it when I got done and the end was really good....the chemistry of the ppl were good too.. but don't worry it's not a "romance novel". It was good you should read it.
So I was just writing this up and I think I should turn off the autosave becuase I already typed this up once and I was highlighting it to change the text and somehow it all erased and then it autosaved. Soooo...I'm writing this again. whew....

Ok so I arrived at Chicago O'hare. I hate that airport. It is so always so busy, and it is huge and built like a maze. I literally felt like a rat in a maze about 3 years ago when I had a connection in there once and had to change terminals but the train was down and they were doing a lot of construction in the halls. It even had those orange road detour signs up to direct us pedestrians. It took me at least 1/2 hour to walk to my next gate...anyway I landed late because we were taxing in the air for about 20 minutes before we could land. The lady that was picking me up had told me to meet her at the arrivals, but she said it was the upper level...i know becuase I wrote it down the week before when I talked to her. There was no upper level however, and after standing up there finally made it downstairs and we managed to find each other. She was really sweet and nice, and she teaches voice at NIU. I was also going to stay at her house for the next 4 days in one of the rooms that she normally rents out to students. She was so nice and drove me to the grocery store to get some food to eat while i was there. I loved her house...it was a big old wood-panneled house which is awsome becuase I LUV wood panneling and the smell of wood...especially old wood. mmmm. So her house was awsome.

I pretty much spent the entire time locked away in the practice room. I love it when I have nothing else to do but practice and get ready for something like my audition and concert that I had to do there at NIU. I think I averaged about 5-6 hours a day while I was there. Ms Seeman got me a gig playing with the NIU philharmonic orchestra. It was thier concerto concert. I only played two pieces: La Forza del Destino by Verdi and a concerto for Steel Pan and Orchestra by Jan Bach. It was really good, and very well written for harp. You should go find it and listen to it, or even try to find a video. Very good. I'm proud of myself though. I learned the Verdi excerpt in only 5 days. Not bad, and Ms Seeman said I played really well in the concert...which is great because that is what I do best! Anyway, it was really good.
My audition was the next day. I played a little of everything. And I played really well too! I prepared really well too which makes me happy. I also got to talk to the conductor and what her plans for the future are if I should accept and come to NIU. She has a passion for orchestral music just like me, and we like a lot of the same composers. It was a good trip.

It was good that I was out of town that week, because that was the week where my family decided to get sick all at the same time with flu/pneumonia. I tease them about it and thank them, because they couldn't have picked a better time to be sick...while I was not there! But I think the Lord was looking out for me too because when I came home mom was not fully recovered and dad caught a strain of something else while I was there but I never once got sick or even felt under the weather, and if I had gotten sick at any time during that time, my auditions would have very probably been ruined, especially when I still had my UT audition in Austin the next weekend after I came home. So, all good!!