Recital Completion FOREVER!

Our apartment has gone through the recital process several times this year. It started with Diana's junior recital first semester. (Yes, it was during our senior year. Long, unnecessary story.)


Then was my senior recital.


After that was Meghanne's senior recital.


But today, we ran out of apartment recitals. Diana performed her senior recital, marking the last time any one of the the apartment members has to perform a required recital before we graduate.

As it turns out, singing lends itself to excellent facial expressions. Diana's are, of course, entirely realistic. Ours? Simply dramatic.

Face number 1:






Face number 2:






Face number 3:






Finally, in honor of singers everywhere, Meghanne, Michelle, Lauren, and I decided to show our most intense singing expressions of all time:





Wonderful, wonderful job, Diana! We love you!

Diana and I took a long walk this afternoon and reminisced about everything that has transpired over the past four years. Life is a little weird right now. I counted this morning; 12 days left of being in the public school system, and 24 days until graduation. I knew graduation was coming from the day I started at Gordon back in 2007, but I certainly didn't expect to feel this nostalgic, sentimental, and...unfinished...as I do now. Most days I can't decide whether I'm about to laugh or cry or both at the same time. There are so many things up in the air, ranging from the life-altering to the mundane, and I see no way for them to all be tied up within less than a month. I know they won't be. I can't expect that. But that doesn't stop me from thinking about it.

Mary Potter? Harry Poppins?

Have you ever considered what would happen if Mary Poppins and the world of Harry Potter collided? I hadn't, until I came across this tale. Who knew that Hogwarts was responsible for such an esteemed literary, historical, and dearly beloved character! If you are a fan of either Harry Potter or Mary Poppins (with a heavier emphasis on the Harry Potter end of things), you should read it.

Dear world,

You should really check this out.


Sincerely, Literally Laughing Out Loud

Last week

So I may or may not have left the power cord to my computer at the school over the entirety of April vacation, which meant that I struggled to save my battery for the past nine days and thus avoided blogging. That's really very sad, because a LOT has happened in the past week-and-a-couple-days that is entirely blog-worthy.

1. Church. I have never, ever spent so much time at church in my entire life. We had church last Sunday (2.5 hours). Then again on Thursday (2.5 hours), Friday (2.5 hours), Saturday (4.5 hours), and Sunday (2.5 hours). That means I spent a total of 15.5 hours in church just this week. Crazy, huh? It was entirely enjoyable. I could write a whole post on each church service, but I'll save that for another time.

2. Clothes. First, I sewed a dress. I stayed up waaaaaaay too late (we're talking till around 3:30 am...) to finish it, and it has some potential. I need to make some alterations before I could even consider wearing it - I guess I'm not quite standard sized - but one day, I think it might be acceptable.


Then Diana and I went shopping, and I found a dress that I LOVE that was originally $42.00, and I got it for $18.00. Three cheers for discounts and sales! Finally, I found a pair of green shorts. I'm sort of in love with them...and that might be an understatement.


3. Exercise. I've gone running for the past four days in a row, and I'm planning on keeping that up. Win! I feel much more energetic in the morning, and, weirdly enough, I ended up having more time to get ready for school even though I'm doing more. Maybe it has something to do with actually forcing myself to get up on time.

4. Duct tape. I made a duct tape wallet, and I'm pretty proud of it. I guess that's what happens when you have a week off and no computer... A friend labeled me "one of those duct tape wallet girls," which I guess is true. Not sure if there are any connotations associated with that. What else was I supposed to do on a rainy afternoon after being poked by a kabob-sized needle in the morning? I maintain that it was creative and fun, even if it makes me five years old.


5. Books. I read John Steinbeck's The Pearl on Saturday (in 74 minutes, no less! I timed myself. Before you think I'm superhuman, let me inform you that it's only 90 pages.), and found it to be a very sad story. If I wanted to be really hardcore, I'd think about all the symbolism, imagery, hyperbole, etc. that was used because I know without a doubt that the book was chock full of it, but I'll probably save that for another time. After I finished that, I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. You might be familiar with his other book, Kite Runner. I've read that and I loved it, sad as it was, so I figured this one would be splendid as well. Right now I'm 60 pages in, and I have yet to be disappointed.

6. Cleaning. Our apartment, as well as my side of our room, is sparkling clean! I plan to keep it this way as long as humanly possible because it's just so nice to have so much floor and table space.

7. Food. This week I made pizza with pesto, freshly sliced tomatoes, and grated cheese. It was heavenly - so much so that I made it twice. Next time, I'll make the crust too.


I also figured out how to modify the microwave cake to make it vanilla!


And I introduced my mom to Pinkberry. SO. GOOD.


(Fear not; the dessert-y elements listed here were consumed on Sunday. Lent was thus upheld.)

8. Final Things. I played my last formal Wind Ensemble concert at Gordon last week. It was a little sad, but mostly exciting. We do have one more performance with some community bands, but Wind Ensemble is pretty much over. I also picked up my cap and gown last week. I guess college really is ending, which feels weird. I don't feel old enough for this. I mean, heck, I still make duct tape wallets. I'm going to miss Gordon and all its quirks. There are things I won't miss, i.e. chapel requirements, the registrar, homework assignments, practice cards, and goose poop scattered everywhere, but I'm really going to miss all the wonderful people that I've met here that I won't see every single day anymore, as well as the music department culture (mostly...), the academic environment ( I know, I know, liking school is dorky), and my apartment. Oh dear, my apartment. I will miss them the most. That requires a separate post also.

Lip Syncing

This kid really amuses me to no end, especially starting around 2:42.

Hopeless Romantic?

I think I've begun a new love affair with tomatoes.


This is a little weird, because I wouldn't even come close to touching one while growing up. But now I find myself putting them on everything and loving every bite...maybe the apocalypse is coming sooner than I expected.

A Riddle

I've had the lyrics for a rather clever riddle song bouncing around my head for the past several days. Thank you, elementary school. Can YOU figure out what it's talking about?


As I was walking in a field of wheat,

I picked up something good to eat.

Neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor bone,

I kept it till it ran alone.

Family Relations

Brother's earlier facebook status: "I am an uncle now :)"



...I'm beginning to wonder what happened to the baby that I have supposedly born. I must have amnesia.



(Actual story: my cousin and his wife just had a baby, which would make both brother and myself first cousins once removed. Jonathan has since been corrected. Congratulations to Trevor, Ashley, and baby Max!)



Jonathan's current facebook status: "I guess I'm not an uncle..."

Project!

While searching for Easter dress ideas for when I'm rich again, I came across this!



What an excellent sewing project! It looks amazingly easy too. I've never been able to find a good wrap dress because they're always either a million dollars or they're made out of jersey fabric which generally looks horrible on me. It clings to all the wrong places and avoids all the right ones. I've decided. Once I'm rich again, I'm buying this.

We had some church this morning.

We sang some Mendelssohn:



But the best part was during a hymn that brought the entire church to its feet, most of us having difficulty remaining dry-eyed. I can't describe something like that, except to say, yet again, that I love this church.

Microwave Cake, take 5

You're probably sick of microwave cake by now. Sorry. I even swore to myself that I wouldn't post about it again because I'd written about it so many times. But, ladies and gentlemen, I was handed a new recipe, and the world flipped over, and I just have to write about it again. What is this, microwave cake take 4? (Here is where you say, "Behold, she writes blog post titles after she writes the actual post." Is that a problem?) I just looked it up; it's take 5. Lauren found this recipe and posted it on my facebook wall after trying it and discovering its wonderfulness. Since I've been making microwave cake on feast days since Lent started, I figured today would be the best day to try it. In case you don't want to actually click on the link to the recipe itself, I will give you my slightly modified version.

4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 1/2 tablespoons Nutella (I don't like Nutella - a crime, I know, don't shoot me - so I used hot fudge)
3 tablespoons milk
splash of vanilla extract
3 tablespoons melted butter
(I added a 1/2 tsp peppermint extract)

And I made frosting with a little powdered sugar, milk, and 1/8 tsp peppermint extract.

The consistency of this cake is pretty miraculous in that it's EXACTLY like regular cake. It would probably be better to have more than one person eat it, because it's very filling.

Go make it right now.



(P.S. This picture displays everything that is our apartment: recital/music major flowers, creative tools, dessert, comfortable living room, and ridiculous magazines.)

Where I'd like to be right now...

I would give anything to be back here right now:


where they have stuff like this:


and this:


and this:


There are ancient places to worship:



hidden among cobbled, windy streets:


and even the police officers are friendly:



Unfortunately, in order to do that I might have to go back in time.

Stuck

I know it's been awhile since I played in the pit for this, but it's stuck in my head...




(This is from Throughly Modern Millie, if you were wondering.)

I haven't been writing too much lately because I've gotten into a fairly regular routine which doesn't allow for too much outside of the mundane. Not great for blogging material. My routine looks like this:

Alarm goes off at 5:45. I turn it off every five minutes until 6:25. Sometimes I see a glorious sunrise, and then I remember why getting up this early is peaceful and calm and lovely, provided that I've gotten enough sleep the night before (unusual).


(This isn't at Gordon at all, but I woke up to one that looked a little like this today. It was gorgeous.)

By the time I finally get up, I have about 20 minutes with which to shower, get dressed, pamper(?), brush my teeth, gather all my junk (oboe, music, pursebag, huge binder, box of cereal, cell phone, computer, computer charger, flute, clarinet, occasional sax, keys, ID card), put on my coat, and run out the door. Then I remember why getting up early is only peaceful and calm and lovely if you get enough sleep the night before so that you get up on time.

I get to school between 7 and 7:30 - almost always much closer to 7:30 than 7 - and set up my stuff on my desk area. Once the bell rings, I go set up the band room.


Once I finish that, I go back to my desk area and catch up on a whole bunch of paperwork. Not so fun.


Sometimes I hang out with some cool band kids,

(I would insert a picture of them here, but I don't have one.)

and then I go and conduct some ensembles.


After that, it depends on the day.

Mondays include working at an office after school, then coming back to school until 7 or 8 for rehearsals.
Tuesdays I go from school to class at Gordon to Wind Ensemble to Orchestra.
Wednesdays I have the afternoon off, but I usually have a million things to do to catch up.
Thursdays I have Wind Ensemble and then church choir.
Fridays and Saturdays for the next few weekends I'm working at school for a festival thing.
Sundays are church and things.

Going to bed should happen around 10, but usually doesn't happen until at least 11.

All of that means that I drive the same route between 7 and 10 times every week, and I go that way at least six out of the seven days. Like I said. Routine extraordinaire.

What?

Hey world. Snow in April is just not cool.*


Or maybe it is cool, because it COULD lead to snow day number six and would allow me to successfully avoid a full day of elementary school BY MY-FREAKIN'-SELF.**


I'm not counting on it though. That would just be too darn exciting.







*Logically, I guess a temperature of 32 degrees does qualify as "cool." A thousand pardons to those scientifically-minded people out there.

**I don't mean to complain. It's just that I've never had full authority over a class of real students without a music teacher present. This frightens me.