Recipe for Stress-Relief

I went to the doctor (again, Jessie?) on Wednesday because I'm just not getting better. (Yay for another sinus infection and another load of horse pills!)
I liked him much better than the last doctor-lady ("We can just hang a keyboard above your bed." Grrr!), but I can't say he was that helpful.

His orders?
Sleep 8 hours a night and don't be stressed.
Really? I thought I was doing well getting an average of 7 hours of sleep per night.

I've thought and thought about what I can "cut out" of my schedule, but there's really nothing.
I know what you're thinking:  I won't give up my social life. But really, my social life consists of Sunday mornings at church, talking to Tali Rose on my way home from school, an occasional meal at Tali's, and talking to Ty before bed. I'm not willing to cut any of that, because that's life.

This morning my mom and I got bloodwork done. Eeek! I cried my eyes out as I answered the lady, "Yes, I'm in college."
Thankfully, I did not pass out. Hopefully this will get to the bottom of some of my sicky issues.

So what is the recipe for stress-relief?

1 visit with your bestie when it's past your bedtime
1 hour and 45 minutes of extra sleep
1 discounted breakfast with Mommy
3 hours of elementary music observation

Today I went to a local school and observed K-3rd music classes. I LOVED it! I'm feeling more and more that this is where I'm supposed to be. I wish all of you could experience elementary music; I know it would blow your minds! It's so much more than just singing songs and listening aimlessly to Mozart. I loved joining in all the games today. During the last class I even got to ring the gong 20 times for my birthday. The first graders' eyes got bigger and bigger as they counted all the way up to 20!

Now it's back to a weekend of piano and homework (and finishing a portfolio that's due Monday...ahem), but I'm feeling plenty refreshed!

Sunday Smiles!

Can you say, "Frozen yogurt!?" :D

Mmmm. I got pomegranate flavor with mango and coconut on top!

No penguins?

Birthday Fun!

Julia and I were in nursery today. We started out with three little guys.

Cooper, my unofficial godson, is the one with his finger up his nose. His brother, Cole, is seen in the photo above. The curly red-head is John Mark.

This game was quite popular.

Soooo cute!

My sister is the greatest!

Four more kiddos arrived - making seven between the ages of 1 1/2 and 4 - and things got a little wild! I had to juggle to keep them entertained!

Cooper attacked Julia while she was giving Troy a turn in the "Worm Monster."

John Mark fell on his face (poor guy!) and asked for a band-aid. All the other kids were jealous.

Favorite!

And after church I got some Valor time, too.

I was feeling a little lost after church, but then Pastor Curt called me over. Immediately, he and three other men surrounded me and started singing happy birthday in the middle of the hall! Afterward they showered me with prayers, too! I am so blessed!

Tell Me Am I Right to Think That There Could Be Nothing Better...

...than sidewalk chalk?

Yes, that's what I said.
(Did you sing along and do a happy dance when you read this blog title? 'Cause that's what I did when I typed it!)

Can you figure out who is who?

I was with these two.

Gabe gave me curly hair. :)

We also made flowers and cities...and flowers twice the size of cities.

That makes me think of Veggie Tales. Larry Boy, anybody?

I love how you can't play with sidewalk chalk without being completely covered in it. I especially love how I went to the movies covered in it. :)

To Be That Kind of Teacher

I've been taking a few extra lessons with Ms. Williams to help prepare my sophomore review program.
Friday mornings at 10.

Only, she asked to move this week's lesson to 9:15, because she had to be somewhere in the afternoon.
True story. But only partially.

When I arrived today at 9:20 (oops! ;), she and Kelly (a girl from my high school piano quartet) were hanging out in the kitchen. I figured they were just chatting and having coffee. That's not too far-fetched of an assumption, as Ms. WIlliams is known for her great coffee and company.

They were not just hanging out, however, as I discovered when I walked into a kitchen all set up for a birthday breakfast. It took a few moments to register. They were throwing me a party! :)
(You'd think Kelly's "Surprise!" would have tipped me off, but no. Ha!)

The three of us just sat down and chatted for an hour or so, enjoying fresh fruit, muffins, coffee (or in my case, herbal tea). They even had cards, flowers, and a beautiful cupcake for me!
(FYI, I just finished half of my cupcake, and it just may be the most delicious one I've ever eaten: Yellow cake with lemon filling and cream cheese icing and decorative swirls on top - which is why I've given the other half to Papa!)

Ms. Williams received a phone call while we were there, and she promptly told the caller that she was busy having breakfast with her students. The man on the other line remarked that she socialized with her students more than anyone he knew.
It's true.
She has been such a blessing to me! Not only has she prepared me for where I am in piano, but she's been a faithful, thoughtful friend, as well.

After we finished up breakfast, Mrs. W and I got down to business. I love how she can throw me a party and then tell me I've been slacking. :)

Oh, to be that kind of teacher.

Who's Counting?

I thought I was finished with all my math courses.
Technically, I am.

Yeah, until my music theory class decides to experiment with interval class vectors.
If you have no clue what that means, you are blessed.
Basically, we're assigning numbers to pitches in 20th century music and talking about how they're organized.

Now I spend Tuesdays and Thursday counting pitches and transposing them and inverting them, etc, etc...wishing I wasn't counting.

Monday came and went without notice - the six month marker of Ty's living in TN. In some ways it feels like a lifetime since he moved, but really it's mostly flown by.

Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of my birth (yes, also known as my birthday), but who's counting that either?

I'd say I'm counting down to Ty's hopeful return in September, but I have mixed emotions about all the comings and goings this summer. I can't wait to have Ty home, but I'm dreading other goodbyes. As much as I've grown and Tyler and I have grown through separation, I'm not really excited at the thought of stretching myself that way in all of my other relationships.
(Read: I don't want everyone else to leave.)

I'm just taking life day by day.
One thing I am counting is this: 2 weeks until the Ws and I travel to TN!

Beauty

Beauty.
What is beauty?
How is beauty?
Where is beauty?
Is beauty without a
beginning?
Is beauty without an
end?
Could it be that there are
only
two kinds of beauty?
In this world there is
Source beauty
and
Reflected beauty.
Source beauty is
true beauty
pure beauty
independent beauty
definitional beauty
divine beauty.
Reflected beauty is shadow beauty
tainted beauty
ill-defined beauty
creation beauty.
All sin is sin against
beauty.
Idolatry puts
Reflected beauty
in
Source beauty's place.
Sin hammers Reflected
beauty
into the shape of
ugly.
Sin then names ugly
beautiful.
The more distant it is from its
source
the less beauty there is to be
found
in Reflected beauty.
Source beauty is not to be
manipulated
or
ignored.
It is only
ever
eternally to be
worshiped.
In the
Incarnation
the feet of beauty
touched earth
to reveal
beauty
to teach
beauty
to restore
beauty
to help beauty be
seen
experienced
worshiped
loved
in order that
in the hearts of men
Source beauty
would be restored
to its rightful place
But
I still live
in the middle of
a beauty war.
And in the fog
of the
conflict
I do not see beauty
clearly.
With battle scarred
eyes
I look at what is ugly
and I think I see
beauty.
Please heal
my eyes.
Please restore
my heart
so I may
Gaze nowhere else
but
see
love
worship
the beauty
that only
ever
emanates
from You.

-The Theology of Beauty, excerpt from Paul David Tripp's A Shelter in the Time of Storm

Hats Galore

Oh, the hats!

I love them all!

(Okay, the blue peacock one is kinda strange, but I'd wear it if I had the chance!)

Musings

There's this bumper sticker that says, "If anything can go well, it will."
While I admire optimism behind this statement, it is completely idiotic to say this. (Not to mention that it removes that fact that we have a sovereign God working all things for His glory and the good of His own.)
Tyler dislikes this bumper sticker, and once we talked about the philosophy behind it for a long time. I remember he said that he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Well, yesterday I was driving behind a car that had this sticker. Now I can't stop thinking about it...and over thinking it.

This led me to think of its negation: If anything can go wrong, it will.
A common phrase.

While I don't believe that either, I can't help but joke about the fact that things seem to follow this course sometimes. I'm beginning to believe I'm a Jonah or something, the person you don't want to take on plane trips. You know, the one that unfortunate things always happen to. Lest you think something monumental has occurred, let me set you straight.
I have pink eye. Yes, that's all.

Yay for another 14 days of antibiotics! I still have another week left on my other antibiotic.
I eat well. I'm active (more so when school isn't insane). I sleep 7 hours a night.

Do I just have a bummer immune system or what?

Overwhelmed?

I've done well this semester just taking this load day by day. I've been utilizing my handy-dandy planner and keeping up with all my deadlines. I've mostly been sticking to my bedtime (except with a Mr. Someone calls and we talk too long! It's okay; I wouldn't trade it! ;)

This blog is my attempt to stay this way, but the truth is that I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed. (Thanking God I don't have music history this semester!) Oh, I wish everything wasn't always so busy at the same time! How do college kids with social lives survive? I've come to three conclusions:
Either...
1. They don't study. School is a joke to them, or they're so smart they never need to study. Neither description fits me.
or
2. Their classes are all easy. Doesn't sound like mine.
or
3. They don't sleep. This fits my friend, Haylee, perfectly. Don't ask me how she does it, but she frequently pulls all-nighters to keep up with her studies and her college ministry. This doesn't fit me, either.

This is me:
Sleep + minimal social life + studying + piano.
I don't mind it too much. Really, I don't. But I would like a day when every minute isn't planned out with one thing or another.
I'm off to practice. My professor told me I played 1 measure of the first movement of Prokoviev's 2nd Sonata perfectly. Out of 300...
But hey! I was thankful he even said one was correct!
The other 299 are to be fixed by next week.

*Sigh.*
The work is never done. How I wish I would have learned so many things earlier!
Off to "play with my brain, not my fingers!" as I was thus instructed today.

Who's overwhelmed?

Home Away From Home

Is this what Boukie meant when he told me I should be living in the practice rooms?

I've even begun accepting visitors!

The triplets' mom, Julia, and my mom were all on campus today for Mr. Triplet Dad's birthday. They decided to break up my long day by coming for a short visit.

Of course, babies can't sit for long, so I had to entertain them by playing. :)

Birthday Wishes

A shout-out to my Papa who is 82 today!

Here are a few pictures of me with him.

The other two girls in this picture are my cousins, Kelly (left) and Kristina. This was at Ms. Williams' piano recital last May, which I attended and in which Kristina played.

What does this have to do with Papa's birthday?

Well...

Papa loves rag time music.

Three years ago (maybe four?) I played the popular and over-played Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin. By the time I performed it, I was sooooo sick of it that I never wanted to hear it again. Nothing wrong with the piece; it's just a little too familiar. I can guarantee you that Papa has asked me to play it nearly every week since I last performed it. In the beginning I gave in. Now I just don't have time, and it's been so long that my fingers can't even fake it. :)

Well, today I decided that I should make my fingers remember that piece just in honor of Papa's birthday.

I wish I had decided to do this a couple days ago. 30 minutes work...and I can fake it again! Ha ha. :)

Kristina is playing a different rag for a competition soon, so it looks like we'll be giving Papa a short concert for his 82nd! Hope you enjoy it, Papa!

Benefits of Being Sick

We'll make this a nice little countdown.

10. 5 out of 6 of my professors responded positively about missing school (still waiting to hear from the last one).

9. Chick-fil-A french fries! Don't ask me; my doctor told me to eat french fries and drink Pedialyte, but I skipped out on the Pedialyte.

8. Watching movies! With my schedule, that's something that has become quite a novelty!

7. More time to do homework. I plan on finishing my weekly online homework today, as well as wrapping up some other class work. I'm also glad to have time to work on my Bible study.

6. Sleeping in! I rolled out of bed at 8 this morning. :) Better not get too used to it.

5. All my well-wishes from my friends.

4. Having to slow down... even though I did so kicking and screaming!

3. My mommy cooked me whatever I wanted, picked up all my medicines, drove me to the movie store, etc, etc. She's so great!

The last two cannot be ranked. Tyler had a snow day yesterday, so we got to talk a lot, on and off. That was so much better than a few minutes at the end of our busy days! Also, Tali Rose came over, brought me tea and homemade butter rolls (Mmmm!), sat on my bed and talked with me, and watched a movie with me. These things are invaluable.

Even though I'm not too thankful (grrrr...still working through this!) that I had to miss class and practice for two days, I am increasingly thankful for all of the things mentioned above, which probably would not have taken place without this forced respite.

P.S. I'm feeling much improved today. :)

Again?

I am sick.

Again.
Doesn't it seem like I was just sick? I thought that respiratory bug I had for two weeks in December would have been enough to hold me through the new year. At least through January.

I started having a scratchy throat last night (ironically, right after I finished drinking a homemade smoothie that was packed with healthy goodness), and now I'm up at 2 AM not feeling so hot.

Thankfully, one of my classes was postponed to Tuesday (that I have to play a duet for), and my two other class professors both have good sick policies. Seriously, though, I do not want to start the week off this way! I was in bed at 8 PM last night so that I could get a lot of practicing done this morning. I have a lot of work to catch up on before my lesson on Wednesday, since I missed practice this weekend for the women's retreat (which was great, by the way!). Maybe God is saying I need more time to process what I learned. After all, it was rush, rush, rush the moment I walked through the door Saturday evening. Piano concert at school that night, playing in a master class the following morning.

I don't like going to the doctor. But this feels familiarly like strep, so off I go in the morning. I'll need a doctor's note for school anyway.

Prayers appreciated. :)