THANKSGIVING FUN!

Thanksgiving was a little untraditional this year. My family is really spread out so my aunt invited me to her in-laws house to celebrate. They always welcome anyone into their home...the more the merrier! I brought Logan (the french horn player from my quintet) and his girlfriend because they couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving. I've been the lone student during a holiday before and it's no fun. So any opportunity to extend an invitation into my family (or partial family) for the day I jump at the chance. We all had a blast!! There was, of course, tons of yummy food....even though I'm not the biggest fan of the traditional Thanksgiving feast. The best part is being out in the country with horses to ride, donkeys to pet, four wheelers, motorcycles, tree houses and anything else you could possibly thing of. I was so exhausted that night!! I fought to stay awake until 8:45 but it was totally worth it!

Eli and Logan catching a fish!

Ethan and his Grandpa Chris goin' for a ride Everyone in the Gator for a ride!

Logan and the donkeys!

HOUSTON

I went to visit some family in Houston/audition for a few days this week. It was so much fun! I love being around family and just being able to relax and enjoy their company. My aunt and uncle recently moved back to Houston so my other aunt drove down there with me and we got to see their new house. We even got to help cook for a party my Aunt Lori was having and Missy and I enjoyed her wonderful margaritas....maybe a few too many. But hey....I was on vacation! :)

The morning before we left Vance (my uncle) asked me to play the Jaws theme on my bassoon. Here are some videos of what that developed into. It was pretty entertaining.

Vance recently picked up the pool table from my grandparent's house. They'd been storing it for him in their garage for years and he was finally able to take it back. I used to play on it a lot when I was little. Not so much shooting pool with a cue stick, but more just rolling them back and forth. But I'm getting better. I mean.....check out this form!

My cousin, Tiffany, flew in on Friday

so I also got to spend some time with her.

There are many more pictures HERE

20 years in the making......

As most of you know I've wanted to play bassoon in a professional orchestra since I was 5. I won't go into the long story...but let's just say it involved a record of Peter and the Wolf and many grueling years of waiting until I was big enough to play and smart enough to spell 'bassoon'.

The long wait has finally ended. In the last 2.5 weeks I have auditioned, accepted, and played for my first professional group. I am the 2nd bassoonist of the Baton Rouge Symphony. Don't get me wrong, I'll still keep taking auditions because there is always a slightly higher group to play in, but if that day never comes for me I am perfectly happy where I am. It's never mattered to me where I was playing....as long as I'm doing just that. I'm never happier than when I'm playing bassoon. The first concert was last night.....

You're probably thinking that it should have felt like any other orchestra concert I've ever played in. I sat in the exact same spot I've alway sat it, was surrounded by all the same instruments that normally surround me, and I was looking into the same bright lights with the hint of a baton waving around in front of me. But no........ it was unlike any experience of my life. Maybe it was just knowing what all went into getting to play in that concert and sitting in that chair, surrounded by those musicians, looking at that particular baton. I mean.... I was sitting there thinking "this is totally awesome! I'm getting paid for this!" (not a whole lot mind you) but paid none the less! After so many disappointing auditions I'd started to wonder if I was going down the right track. I started looking at other possibilities (music therapy, teaching, something in the totally opposite direction). I even gave myself a 5 year deadline. If I hadn't gotten an audition by then, I'd move on, accept that I was supposed to be doing something else with my life. After last night I'm so glad I got to that chair before the 5 year deadline! I would have completely missed out on something absolutely incredible! There was absolutely no where else I should have been last night besides on that stage. It's just who I am. I'll never be wealthy, living the high life. But that's okay. And do you know why it's okay? Because never will I say "Ah man...I have to go work" I get to say "Oh man! I have to go to work!!!"

If I never make it to a larger orchestra I'll have to keep doing something else on the side, but it's okay because I know why I'm having to work in a coffee shop or an office supply store. It's because I'm living the dream, and to me that's everything. Not many people feel about their jobs the way I feel about mine which is that I never have to work a day in my life. And I can mean it with all of my heart.

I always thought that "follow your dreams" "you can do whatever you set your mind to" were kind of cliche. I had started to lose faith in those phrases, but boy have a changed my outlook. Today I would double dog dare you to go back 20 years and tell that little blonde, curly headed 5 year old girl that she wouldn't be doing exactly what she wanted when she grows up. It makes me think of that song from Sweet Charity:

All I can say is "Wow-ee!

Looka where I am.
Tonight I landed, pow!
Right in a pot of jam.
What a set up! Holy cow!
They'd never believe it,
If my friends could see me now!

Now on to the not quite so heart felt part of the trip! I LOVE Baton Rouge. There's delicious food: crawfish etoufee, bar-b-q, and oh oh oh the sweet tea!

brisket stuffed baked potatoes. Awww heaven

I had Monday off so we drove down to New Orleans.

One of my favorite places in the U.S. We had some food, listened to a little music. All a fantastic way to spend the day.

I bought a piece of art from a street artist. There's just something about contributing money to a struggling artist that makes me feel good inside. and the painting is pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. I think looking at and buying art from the merchants around Jackson Square is just one of those things you need to experience in New Orleans.

We spent some time in downtown Baton Rouge. Went to the capitol building and saw where Huey Long was assassinated. Then we saw his grave which is actually in the Capitol Gardens near a huge statue of him. We spent a little time in the Louisiana State Museum. There was a lot to see and read about so we only made it through the first floor. But it was free so i'll be back to peruse the other fascinating exhibits. The zoo was only $1 from 3-5 on Wednesdays so i thought it was worth checking out. Absolutely not! The large cat exhibit (which is supposedly the highlight) was closed for renovations and the rest of the zoo was awful. i won't even discuss it. Lets just say it brought me to tears and I couldn't get out of there fast enough! Darn them they got my dollar!!!

The rest of the time was spent in rehearsal and resting up for rehearsals. I keep thinking I would love to live there, but 90 degrees with 95% humidity is a little much...even for me. And I like to think of myself as adaptable to any climate. I mean heck! I lived in the tundra for 3 years! We'll see I guess. I suppose every place is going to have downsides to it's climate. You just learn to adjust. It is a great place though. I always felt at home in New Orleans and now Baton Rouge. I'd move there just for the sweet tea! It's the little things that make me realize how much I missed the South :) Anyway, the concert was a success. Bryan tried to record a little, but it doesn't quite do it justice. At least I don't think so. Either way... here's a little tid bit of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony for your enjoyment!!

The city was great! The rehearsals were great! The concert was out of this world!!!!! I still can't think of many words besides 'awesome' to describe how I still feel right now. I'm still on my musician's high. I think this picture comes pretty close to summing it up.

Thank you to all of my friends and family who have supported me over the years. I know this is probably said way too often, but I really couldn't have done it without you. Your love and encouragement helped push me through the rough times. You reminded me day after day why I do what I do and helped me to never lose sight of my love and passion. Thank you. I owe all of this to you.

"If music be the food of love, play on"

-Shakespeare

SPEECHLESS!

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!
more to come about THE first concert when I think of words other than awesome..........

I GOT A JOB! I GOT A JOB! I GOT A JOB!!!

I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm the new 2nd bassoonist for the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra (BRSO).
I don't think I've stopped smiling for a week!! And at the rare moment when I have,
I think about playing for a symphony and it comes back! My first concert is 2 weeks from tomorrow. so for the next 8 months I'll be traveling to Baton Rouge for a week at a time.

I can't even explain how excited I am. Bryan gives me a hard time because he's convinced I wont' even be this excited when/if he ever proposes.....he's probably right. teehee :)
I finally won an audition! And I did in less than the average audition amount AND before my 5 year deadline (that I set for myself)!!! I'm so happy, and I'm sure there will be pictures and many many smiley face icons after my first concert!

so in the words of Melynda....."I won!!"

WINTER IN JULY

This was the big week for Katie's wedding!!! I drove the cakes up to Minneapolis on Wednesday and the cakes and I made it all in one piece. 

I also made it up in time for the bachelorette party on Wednesday night. I surprised Katie with a cake for that also. And I showed up with a few extra little gifts.....see if you can figure out what they are. 

Little did I know it was going to be cold when I got there!! There was some sort of freak cold front and it was a high of 60, cloudy, and windy!! I did not pack accordingly....I had to go buy a sweatshirt, and I wore it for 3 days straight. 

I also helped make wedding favors which consisted of 

coating 10 pounds of espresso beans in chocolate!! It took 3 hours and it took up the entire apartment!! We had beans coming out of our ears....never again. Maybe some day I'll look back on it and laugh, but not today. There are some pictures of the ordeal in the photo album along with many more from the trip. These few are just a preview of the awesome time I had, once again, in Minneapolis!

It was a bittersweet trip for all of us. It is very likely the last time we would all be together in Minneapolis. Many of my friends are spreading in various different directions at the end of the month. They have all been a huge part of my life and I love and will miss them all very much. it was a wonderful weekend and I will never ever forget it. 

BUSY BEE....

So I've been up to quite a bit since my last blog. Auditions, practicing, trips to Florida to see my parents. I'll try to post some pictures soon of the Florida trip. My mom has them, so I'll have to upload them from a different sight first. I have another audition coming up in August. I just found out about it a couple of days ago. It's for 2nd bassoon in the Illinois Symphony Orchestra in Bloomington. Could be interesting. It's 2nd bassoon so that always excites me. 

I've also been messing with my blog a little as you can tell. I'm still trying to work out some kinks, so it might change some more in the next couple of weeks. I'm very excited about it! It's like a scrapbook...sort of. 

I picked up a bassoon student a few weeks ago. She's 11 years old and just starting bassoon. She started on clarinet, so I'm happy to steer her in the right direction. :) We're trying to get her caught up with the rest of the band students before school starts so we're having 2 lessons a week. she's a lot of fun and very excited about playing the bassoon which makes me very excited about teaching her!! It's going well so far. 

In a few weeks I will be traveling up to Minneapolis again. I'm very excited because this time I will be going to see my dear friend Katie get married. And not only do I get to attend the wedding, but I get to make her wedding cake!! I'm nervous because I want it to be perfect for her, but also very excited.  I will start making them next weekend, freezing them and then icing them before I drive them up there. That way any repairs I need to do will probably be minimal. My only concern is that it might be slightly warm, and I don't want that to mess with the cake. I guess that's why I'm going a few days early......if a tragedy occurs I have plenty of time to fix it. But lets be honest.....I'm mostly going up there early so I can spend some time with my girls!!! :) 

I can't think of anything else that's going on that's too exciting. I've been in touch with a couple of old friends which is always fun. And I'm looking forward to the return of a couple of friends after their 3 year absence. They won't live right here in Oklahoma, but they'll at least be one state over....within driving distance. I won't have to hop a plane to go see them!!! That's all for now I guess. It seems as though I feel like I've been doing a lot more than I actually have in the last 3 months. Once I wrote it down it didn't seem like much. Until next time.....

MORE PICTURES!

I borrowed some of the pictures Holli took on my trip. So there are some new pictures in my Minneapolis album!