A Little Rambling

Whew. That took a long time to upload - especially since I had to do it twice (darn internet failures). The silver lining is that the scarf I'm knitting for my sister more than doubled in length during the wait time. Hope you enjoy a glimpse of what Christmas was like here overseas!

Merry Christmas Eve! Santa has already done well tonight - he brought in an extra large return of soldiers. We didn't make it to the actual ceremony, but apparently Santa himself led them through the doors into formation in the Hall of Champions. What more could anyone ask for but the return of a hero just in time for Christmas? There are still many, many more downrange, so as you enjoy time with your families tonight, say a prayer for those whose family is far away and fighting, waiting to come home at last. My Christmas Eve was lovely, starting with banana cinnamon pancakes in the morning, my favorite Christmas reading at breakfast, a hike to the castle in the cold and sunshine, and an afternoon of warm fire, winning at nertz, and naps. We then went to a Christmas Eve service at the chapel which I shall refrain from describing, then people came back to the house for bread and soup, a simple dinner in reminder of the humble birth of our Savior. It doesn't really feel like...

I'm a city girl - born and raised in Phoenix, 6th largest city in the nation. I'm in a village so small it has...nothing. Not a stoplight. Not a stop sign. Not a church, a bakery, or a school. It has houses, a cemetery, and a volunteer fire station. I went out to walk Sam tonight. It's warmed up to 46 degrees (weird to get warmer after the sun goes down) so I was out in just a sweater and scarf. The snow has all melted, alas, but the streets were shining gold in the lamplight, wet with the rain. It glistened off the grass as we walked to the end of town. I stopped at the curve in the road and looked out. I could see the other little hilltop villages in the distance, windows gleaming warm through the night. Where the forest lay in between was complete, unbroken blackness, a gaping hole in the landscape where anything could lurk. Above, the sky was low and cloudy, and a faint smell of woodsmoke hung in the air, along with the rich aroma of wet soil. The...

If you see my facebook, you'll be aware that we have had snow. Lots of snow! I woke up to a world of white (think Amy Grant's Christmas to Remember ) and as soon as I was out of bed I was running around taking pictures. I went out with Brad to walk Sam, and we walked up to the end of the village. Everything is just so picturesque, especially with the fresh snow blanketing everything. I asked Brad if he ever felt like he was living in a postcard. He said that on trips to Rothenburg and similar places, he felt more like he lives in Disneyland for free. It's a fairly accurate description. :) Yesterday I went shopping with Debbie at a German market (Globus is the closest Germany comes to Wal-Mart), and I picked out a few of my favorite things, including pepperoncini s stuffed with goat cheese and some Bresso . I covet a German grocery store at home, simply for the vast variety of meats and cheeses and jogurts they have! I'm sad that it's now illegal to bring h...

Hello! I decided to do a vlog, for several reasons that you don't really care about it. However, I was exhausted, between jet-lag and a long weekend trip, so I only went with one take. Please to forgive any errors or oddities. I say umm a lot. Enjoy!

I always go on about how wonderful my friends are after we've been out having fun doing something particularly nerdy or awesome or spontaneous. They're fun and exciting and unique and creative and enjoyable. But sometimes it takes a night like this to really appreciate them. True friends care. They sit with you quietly when you're sad or sick. They reach out to touch you, a hug or a shoulder rub or a back scratch or holding your hand, or letting you just rest on them. They don't ask too many questions. They don't get impatient. They follow you when you disappear and set up camp on the bathroom floor till you're ready without a word of complaint. They cheer you up - but they don't force you to be cheerful. They love you with actions and words. They don't make a big deal of it. They accept and help and love. They pray. They let you know you're never alone. To all my friends, I love you dearly. Thanks for loving me.

I finished my scarf - the first yarn project I have ever seen through to completion. Woo! I allowed myself yarn for two more scarves, no more. If I finish those as well, then I'll get more. It's fun! Wheee! Next up: a flat scarf.

I feel like my eyes cannot focus on anything further than 4 inches from my face. I have a very long plane ride coming up, and I get notoriously cramped and bored and ear-achy and can't sleep on them, and I have never had a transatlantic flight on which my personal seat-back tv worked. Thus, I am constantly in search of things to occupy my time - and especially this time as I have two layovers. I bought the Hunger Games trilogy and have not taken the plastic wrap off it yet, hoping that that will provide hours of eager page-turning excitement. Last night, I was also given a knitting loom and tool, and taught how to make a tube-scarf by the amazing SBT. I went to Michael's today to buy some yarn, and barely managed to come out with only one skein. I see all the pretty colors and I decide that I am suddenly super knitter! I will make complex patterns in fancy styles for everyone I know! I will make 8 scarves this week! I will be speedy and proficient! I will...probably giv...

Semester's OVER! Jury is passed. Finals are done. Tk20 is...whatevered. Observation hours are complete. Massive papers and projects are turned in. C'est fini ! Fertig ! Terminado ! Finito ! (guess which languages I sang all morning working on my jury?) To celebrate the end, I went out for lunch with my long lost roommate Ashley, and we indulged in large plates of delicious Mexican food from the original Garcias. I went home and was able to have the luxury of a 2-hour nap before heading to Jester'Z with a group, where we laughed until our faces hurt. Every time I go, the Jester'Z manage to turn my laugh into a part of their skit. Last night, I was a squeaky jet engine and the sound a penguin makes. After the show, we headed over to Paragon to dance till midnight. We had an evenly matched number of guys and girls by then, so we all got to dance a lot. There was another guy there who was marvelous, and he whisked me around the room in a blazing waltz (or at le...

A week from now, I will have been on a plane for 11 hours already. In case you haven't heard, I'm going back to Germany! I'll be working for Brad and Debbie for about 3 weeks over the holidays. That means it's time to bring back my other blog , though I'll probably double-post on here, too. If you're curious about what it is I do in Germany, go browse through that blog, or go check out some of these videos on youtube. I'll be making more, as that's the main purpose of this trip. I just got a new camera and better software, so they'll be improved! I'm really praying for a white Christmas, though right now it looks like rain rather than snow. (Please oh please!) I'm excited to see some old friends and to make new ones, and to spend time with two of my favorite people in the world. I have my voice jury tomorrow, and then my semester is over. That gives me the better part of a week to get a couple more warm clothing items and everythi...

Tonight was my 2nd annual holiday recital at work. It went SO WELL!! the festive stage set-up This event has been a mild stressor in my life for the last two months or so, and slightly more than mild in the last week. I had enough students this year that I was able to split it into two recitals, one piano and one voice. I've been working with my kiddos (and adults!) for weeks and weeks, practicing their songs and talking about stage etiquette and microphones and making sure they knew exactly what to do once the recital was finally here. They definitely didn't disappoint! There were SO MANY PEOPLE there! We brought in extra chairs and still ended up SRO for both recitals. Last year it was just kids and their parents, but this time there were grandparents and friends and teachers and extended family members and who knows who else, all crowded in till we completely filled the whole studio. In between recitals there was hot spiced cider and lots and lots of cookies and treats...

If you've never seen Sports Night, this is Dana, right after she sees the Lion King for the first time (after going only very begrudgingly). That's about my reaction. (It is noteworthy that Isaac Jaffe, the producer she's talking to, is the original Rafiki in the Disney movie.) Phindile Mkhize was Rafiki, and definitely the highlight of the experience for me. I want to know how to sing like that without dying. (audio on that video is not particularly great, but oh well.) The costumes were incredible, too. Mom got us aisle seats, so when the Circle of Life started, I was brushed by an enormous elephant, and then wildebeests and some long, curly-horned singing rams. At the beginning of the 2nd act, the singers behind my shoulder scared me to death, as I didn't see them. It was GREAT! I've always loved the music of the Lion King, and hearing it live and with even more of the African traditions built in was breathtaking. There were two drummers up on the walls,...

I love my friends dearly. We celebrated Black Friday by having our first Christmas party of the season, complete with singing Christmas carols, doing a Christmas puzzle, eating pie (I baked a fool-proof cherry pie this time, no more pumpkin disasters!) sitting around the fire, and making s'mores. I don't know what I'd do without these lovely people.

"Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude." (E.P. Powell) Ahhh, I am stuffed full of stuffing and other stuff. Well, I've never liked turkey or stuffing or green bean casserole or gravy or sweet potatoes. (I know, I know, how unAmerican!) I like the ham, the mashed potatoes, the cranberries, the rolls, and the relish tray. And this year, I decided I liked the martian goop, a green, creamy, marshmallow-y concoction of my cousin's husband's. I ate my plate piled high and did not have room for seconds, though I did manage to consume a small slice of Tollhouse cookie pie for dessert. When I got to David and Sarah's house, the first thing Abby asked me was if she could wear my boots. Having just entered the home, I told her after dinner she could. As soon as I finished eating, she reminded me of my promise and spent the rest of the evening clomping around in bo...

Saturday was a big day. In the most exciting news, my cousin's little boy was OFFICIALLY adopted (the last hearing, after more than 7 months!). It just so happened to be National Adoption Day, too, so we celebrated our expanded family, and I was reminded how thankful I am that my grandparents chose to adopt my mother. I also got to go to my very first football game. Well, not ever, but I'm not counting high school games. For one thing, I never watched more than about 30 seconds of those, and could usually not tell you if we won or lost at the end. What I do remember is I could usually just guess that we'd been mercy ruled, and I'd probably be right. We didn't have much of a team for most of my time there. No, this was no such game. This was a college football game. And not just any game, but ASU vs. U of A. Matt was able to get some extra tickets from his bishop, so Shantel and I both got to experience our first real football game together. I'll go ahe...

Arrrrrgh it's that point in the semester again. The point where all those big projects are almost due, but not quite due, so motivation to get them done ahead of schedule is at a minimum. I work best months ahead of time or under the strenuous pressure of, "oh crap it's due tomorrow." However, I know that I like to savor my weekend days by lounging and munching and napping, not typing up projects, and so here I sit... ...clearly not making headway. Instead, I shall say that if you are in Tucson, or have the means to conveniently get to Tucson, you should go see UofA's production of "The Secret Garden." I drove down yesterday to see the understudy performance, and wow. If the understudies are all that good, the actual cast (overstudies?) must be great. I will staunchly defend my opinion that it probably can't be as good without Ryan as Archibald Craven, but I may or may not be a little bit biased. I had tears in my eyes for about half the sho...

Oh, goody, you clicked through to read my blog, even after I've abandoned it for so long! I'm so glad to see you again. I am writing to you now in a state of complete contentment. Let me enumerate the wonderfulnesses of my day. 1) I am still in my pajamas, wrapped up in a fleece blanket, with a purring kitten on my lap. 2) There are clouds in the sky! It is cool and gray and autumnal. 3) I am drinking a steaming mug of feiner rauchtee. This is a loose leaf German tea that I am particularly fond of because I shared it with Lauren in Germany as we talked and talked and talked, and we decided it tastes just like a campfire. Odd as that may sound, it's perfect. 4) My house smells like stoup , which is one of my ultimate comfort foods. (click through for the recipe!) 5) I am about to be eating a pomegranate, picked from Bex's tree. I also have a whole bag full of mandarin oranges (which I am munching on now)! And I'm going to make pie, and honey glazed pecans....

One of my very favorite 'holiday' foods. And by holiday, I mean any time that the weather is cool and cloudy and warm, hearty food sounds good. Those days here in the valley are rare, so they all get to be special! Stoup is wonderful for having groups of people over, as it is non portion-specific. (The name comes from the cross between stew and soup.) It's also good for having just to yourself, since it will last forever and just gets better with age. It's super easy, not too pricy, and deeeeelicious. Good college-student food. You will need any of the following: beans - as many kinds as you want: black beans, kidney beans, red beans, great northern beans, pinto beans, ranch style beans, blackeyed peas, more black beans (cause they're the best, of course!) - no garbanzo beans - stewed tomatoes - generally 1 can to every 3 or 4 cans of beans? mexican style is yummy, or some kind of fire roasted tomato salsa (I used one can of each today) onion (red, white, yel...

So, I feel badly that I neglected to post about my lovely Hallowe'en. I also feel a little guilty that I'm planning three separate blog posts today - but it's for a good cause! What cause, you ask? Not making you trudge wearily through one never-ending post. You're welcome. Halloween was celebrated on Saturday the 29th, as a continuation of our Shakespeare readings. Appropriate to the spookiness of the day, we chose Macbeth I mean, the Scottish play. In keeping with the theme, I borrowed some authentic Ren Faire wear from Aunt Lauri, and enjoyed my chances to read both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We set up a huge bonfire, hung some lights, hauled out some couches and camping chairs, wrapped up in cloaks for warmth, and read aloud - mostly from pdf scripts on laptops. High tech, we are. There was marshmallow roasting, (a party was hosting! No caroling out in the snow...) and an enormous bowl of puppy chow, as well as my two pies. There were swords and cloaks, lea...

My Halloween was celebrated early, which I will blog about later. My actual Halloween was spent sitting in a vet's office with my black cat in an old tangerine crate, glaring balefully at me through the air holes. He suffered in the indignities of poking and prodding and awkward thermometers, being shaved, and having his wound painfully cleaned out. Tonight, he's been glaring at me with eyes filled with betrayal, peering out from inside his cone of shame. Now he's locked up in the bathroom, since he is clever enough to twist around until he fits through the cat door even with the ridiculous 'Elizabethan collar.' So I feel like a terrible person, listening to the wailing meows echoing down the hallway, accompanied by the sounds of plastic scraping along the wallpaper, and the thudding of a fury body into the door. Here's to sleeping with earplugs to drown out the pitiful cries of my favorite furry friend. Just look at those doleful eyes!

I have long aspired to become a domestic goddess . Though I do not limit this to cooking, that seems to be the most currently marketable aspect, as I do not have my own home, nor my own family. Thus, I start where I can. Tomorrow night is my Halloween celebration, and we're doing food pot-luck style. I've been hankering to bake something, so I decided I would bring pie. Not just any pie, however. I wanted to make a pumpkin pie - from an actual pumpkin. Along the way, I somehow decided to make a pecan pie too. I began my adventure this afternoon by shelling fresh pecans with Heber while watching The Incredibles . Carrying my bounty home, I investigated the contents of my kitchen and ran to the grocery store, where I collected the necessary supplies, including a sugar pumpkin. Sugar pumpkins (also called pie pumpkins) are much smaller than the typical jack-0-lantern variety, sweeter and less stringy. I can't imagine how much pie filling you could make from one of tho...

So much Christmas music! I am quite the stickler for not listening to Christmas music before the day after Thanksgiving, but alas, as a musician I am forced to make the music long before the season. I'm getting ready for my studio recital coming up in December, so I've got all my students working on their performance pieces, a larger percentage of with are Christmas carols. It's cheery and delightful, but it makes me long for the season - and for weather that doesn't even come close to 90 degrees. In my next to last piano lesson of the day, we were working through Carol of the Bells. I was trying to convey the idea of thinking about the music as more than just notes on a page, but imagining the imagery behind it to help bring life to the music. (I doubt I sounded quite that stodgy about it though.) I was talking some nonsense about snowflakes whirling, bells over hillsides, that kind of thing, and she suddenly turned and said, "That's not what I see at al...

I really need to start blogging again more better. Which means I really need to start thinking of topics, and taking the time to sit down and dedicate more than 7 minutes to a post. Unfortunately, I like earlier bedtimes. Tonight, I enjoyed an evening of cooking, Castle with dad, and a cup of chamomile tea. A simple, pleasant evening. Not having any homework helped. Comfy pjs, a fridge full of fresh produce, and plans for a phone call before bed also help. I do love my life, in its alternating simplicity and complexity. I have been blessed by a Creator who loves me and never stops reminding me. I have a wonderful family that I love (and even enjoy living with!) and some of the greatest friends possible. I have a job that is steady, pays well, is in my field, and I enjoy it immensely. Life is good. Also, read Romans 8 . I've been reading it many times over, and it never fails to get my heart pounding with joy and thanksgiving. (*ding! blog idea) Merry Monday to all, and ...

Timed free-write*...go! I don't know why, but I've been fixating on the idea of a blog about shoelaces. I think at some point I had somewhere to go with it, but I've long since lost that train of thought. Unlike missing a real train, though, there are no major consequences, as this is something I can just pick up whenever. Missing a real train seems to throw off a lot of other things further down the line - but I digress. Back to shoelaces. They seem to be going out of style - shoes have buckles, or zippers, or velcro. And so many of them are SO SHINY. I laugh at most of the shoes little girls come into my studio with. Very few have laces. I think I prefer the word shoestrings, though. It sounds sillier. It also conjures up thoughts that make my heart warm - like apron strings. Apron strings makes me think of cooking, and I know I've mentioned how much I love to be in the kitchen cooking up food for as many people as possible. Shoestrings also makes me thin...

I was thrilled last night to meet up with my friend Jenny and attend The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring "In Concert," where the movie was screened as the Munich Symphony played the score, along with the Pacific Chorale, Phoenix Boys Choir, and soloist Kaitlyn Lusk. Oh my goodness! It may have been 9 years since the first time I saw the movie, and I may have seen it a hundred times in that span, but it still grabs my attention. Both halves of my inner nerd self were satisfied - the fantasy story/literary self and the music major self. Watching the conductor was fascinating. He had a screen of his own, showing the movie, but with different colored scrolling bars to warn him of entrances and cut-offs, and it flashed on the downbeat of every measure to keep him in sync with the film. Though the sound balance was all off with the movie, it was great to really hear some of the intricacy and detail that I miss in the original score because things are too quiet. ...

I smell a faint chemical smell in my room, and though it seems familiar I cannot place it. It's now mixed with Febreeze, which has failed to mask it and instead has created a rather nauseating blend of stenches and given me a fierce headache. If I die of some kind of inhalation in my sleep, I love you all.

HOMEWORK! Curse it all, anyways. Too many writing assignments for the night, but having done three of them, none of which are due tomorrow, I will count myself reasonably 'ahead' and call it a night and turn instead to writing for pleasure. I have mentioned before that I always keep a kite in my trunk, should the wind perchance blow. After choir, I was retiring to my normal seat in the spacious second floor window when I noticed how blustery a day it was. Excitedly, I mentioned the kite to Rebekah, and we scampered down to the parking lot and took my lovely little Macaw out of Amadeus' trunk. In short order, we had him soaring through the sky, rippling with the gusts or wind under his brightly colored wings. The parking lot is a decidedly convenient place to fly a kite, as there are no kite-eating trees around to snatch my bird out of the air. I realized today, too, how much I talk to inanimate objects, as I cajoled my bird to stay in the sky, to go this direction or...

I've always liked bruises, strange as that may sound. I like to show them off. Usually, they mean I did something really cool and adventurous. If they mean I did something stupid, then they're a good segue into what I try to turn into an interesting story to make people laugh, so they'll look over how idiotic I was. (Like the time I pulled the car door shut...with my hand on the top of the door. I closed it hard enough that it latched, with my fingers stuck out above the window. Ouch. Big bruise!) They turn pretty colors, too. Who knew skin could be purple and blue and green and yellow all at the same time? [Ha, they can be puce - kind of a purplish-yellow. Inside joke.] I have one such story today. I locked my key in my car! Argh. And of course, I discovered this right as I was supposed to leave for a choir concert. ARGH! So, I called Joe to come help me. My windows we cracked, but the hanger I managed to unhook from the hook in the backseat was plastic, s...

I have been severely lacking in motivation, both for doing homework and writing the blog I need to write. I submit instead, for your perusal, a mini-blog. Good Reasons to Cry 1. Happiness 2. Being loved 3. Relief 4. Cutting onions 5. Laughter 6. Release 7. A very touching scene in a movie 8. Evocative music 9. Joy 10. Forgiveness

I slept in this morning, thanks to the Feminist Theory and Music conference that overtook the SoM this week, wreaking havoc with classroom usage and cancelling several classes. After a conducting class filled with flirting - yes, I said it! - and some observations of rambunctious 3rd graders and eensy weensy adorable 1st graders, I got to meet up with Rebekah to spend an afternoon not looking at our cellphones or other electronics, but merely enjoying one another's company. We went to As You Wish to indulge our introverted, artistic selves. I haven't been in months, and being covered in glaze again (literally, to my own misfortune) was quite therapeutic. It's such a lovely way to spend time with someone without having to really talk all that much. You sit side by side, absorbed in your painting, meticulously dabbing glaze on your piece with a paintbrush that is clearly missing the better days before several dozen children jabbed it into clay crevices and mooshed it a...

As I pulled up to school this morning, I saw a cute little dust devil off to the side of my car. While absentmindedly admiring the tricks that wind can play with the loose dirt that lies all over Arizona, I realized that it smelled funny...and that it was coming from under my hood. Oh dear. Turn car off, check engine, can't see anything now, run to class, call Daddy. Thanks be that today is Monday, when I am at school for many, many hours straight and don't have to go to work! Thanks also be to sisters who offer their cars, friends who offer their trucks, and friends who look under my hood and help me out. Extra thanks to daddies who come out to campus after work to dig around in engines in the dark and wait for the late tow truck while you go home and do homework. (that's you, Elisabeth, Shantel, Josh, and Daddy! You are all appreciated!) And another thanks that mom happens to be working out of state this week, so while my car sits as a lump in the driveway, I h...

In my quest for a blog topic tonight, one thing kept coming up over and over - children. On Sunday, I was reminded of just how much I love my little pre-k's. We've been learning about Jesus's miracles, and our lesson was on raising Lazarus from the dead. I only had two little boys, and they took turns being Jesus and Lazarus as we acted out the story. They knew that story cold by the time they left! I enjoyed my morning of narrating adventures on the train tracks, coaxing a boy out of the corner where he was pining for his mommy, and being used as a receptacle for imaginary meals from the new toy kitchen and a driving surface for all sorts of wheeled vehicles. I was crawled on, clung to, tackled, hugged, and cuddled. Above all, I got to see their little faces get excited about learning the truth of Jesus. On Saturday, I went the Arizona Kodály Teacher's Society workshop. The presenter was a delightfully energetic, 80 year old nun. I originally resented having t...