Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op.90 - I. Allegro con brio

This is why I am majoring in music. I love this. We are playing this in orchestra this semester and it is absolutely wonderful and so moving. We won't sound as good as the Berlin Philharmonic in this recording but I still absolutely love playing it. (You'll have to stop the music at the bottom of the page to listen to this, just fyi :) )

I have to follow my sad post from yesterday with a happy post for today. Today was a much better day. I got everything straightened out with my recital. It will be on the same day, April 14, just at a different time, 7:30pm. It is the day of Tyler's FE Exam but at least he can make it to see me play now. I did ask about having my recital on a Sunday but there were conflicts on every single Sunday in April except for Easter and I really didn't want to do it on Easter. I guess this will just have to do.

Despite all the things that have gone wrong with school this far, I really am blessed. Tyler left me THE sweetest and cutest note I think I have ever read. My purse was sitting on the kitchen table this morning and he started saying things to direct my attention toward it like "That's a really nice purse you got there" and "Wow, look at that cool wallet". He had written this note and stuck it inside my wallet for me to find and it was the best note ever and exactly what I needed after all of this. He said in there what a great wife I am to him and how he is the luckiest guy in the world to have me and that I always make his day and that he is happy to be my husband. Just melts my heart that he would take the time to write me a note and hide it (only to subsequently help me find it ;) ). Man, I love him and I am so blessed to have him. He's such a wonderful, sweet person and is so supportive and always lifts me up when I'm feeling down.

Frustrations

I applied for graduation!

The past few days have been really hard. It was looking like I might not graduate until December, which really wouldn't have been that huge of a deal but it was really frustrating. I was missing two lesson credits because of the difference in credits between performance majors and education majors and the time that I changed my major. It's complicated but basically I am two credits short but they were (are) just going to waive them. When I went in to see my adviser at midterms last semester she said that she would take care of it but somehow or another it didn't get done. I discovered it last week on like Wednesday and she got the paperwork put through to waive the credits but it's still not showing on my academic advisement report. That's a little nerve racking. Hopefully it will show up soon and that there wont be any other problems.

The other thing that has made life hard for the past two days is my recital. Tyler wont be able to make it with the time that it is currently scheduled at. His Fundamentals of Engineering exam is the same day and it is two four hour tests with an hour break between, takes up nine hours of his day. He wouldn't be done until 5pm that day and my recital will be over by 4:45 at the latest. This has been the source of much grief. My teacher is not being very flexible with me on the matter. She can't do any other Saturdays in April and she won't do any day other than a Saturday. And anything in March would be too early and I don't want to have to wait until May. I just don't know what I'm going to do and nothing seems to be working out. I'm going to try to meet with the head of the department to get permission to have my recital on a Sunday and see if that makes the scheduling a little easier.

Say some prayers for me, this doesn't seem to have any good outcomes . I'm sure whatever works out will be for the best. But for now I'm stressed out, tired and all I feel like doing is crying because my teacher is not taking anything into consideration other than her schedule. This is so frustrating. I don't want to have to put Tyler in the position of having the pressure to pass this nasty test and then have to rush home to get ready for my recital and have family in town that weekend and not be able to spend much time with them because he has to study. I just feel like quitting, this seems so impossible. And my professor is being so inconsiderate and selfish and I'm just trying to make it work for everyone. When I walked into her office and told her that my husband couldn't make it to my recital because of his test she said (in a kindof snooty tone) "Well, my husband can't make it to mine either". What a slap in the face. Talk about no respect for what is important to a person. If I survive this last semester it will be a miracle.

Miscellaneous

So, I mentioned yesterday that my audition went well, and I thought it went very well. The seating was posted on the bulletin board this morning and I am sitting third chair! Which is super awesome :) I feel like that is where I deserve to sit and I was hoping that I would at least be sitting there. If I would have done the seating myself I would have put myself sitting where I am. :) Happy day!

I forgot to mention yesterday what one of my professors said to me. We were having a conversation about his class that I am enrolled in and I told him that I'm glad that I am not in the section of his class that meets at 7:40am because it would be hard for me to make it there on time and that the 8:40am meeting time is much better for me. He then asked me, "When you have a job teaching music in the public school system what time will you have to be at school?" I replied with, "Well, since my degree is not in education then I don't have to worry about that!" (Ooops, that backfired on him ;) ) Then he smiled and began to tell me that he saw how well I handled the situations back at the BSU Chamber Music Camp this summer and that he thinks that I would make a fine teacher and that some day in the future I should look back and remember the conversation we had and remember that Mr. Brown said that.

I took that as a huge compliment. When this man says something like that, he means it. He has been around so many Jr. High/High School/College band and orchestra teachers that he would know who could make a good one and who would not. Another reason why this is a huge compliment is because he took the time out of his day to tell me that specific thing. He is a really busy person and to take 5 min and talk to a student about stuff like that is a big deal. Anyway, Mr. Brown is a very nice man and it was very sweet of him to lift me up in the way that he did :) Another thing that he said that was very sweet was that he wanted me to graduate but also doesn't want me to graduate because now that he's gotten to know me a bit he wants to keep me around for a while. :) I love it when professors do things like that, it's very encouraging and reaffirms to me that I didn't choose the wrong career/life path. Totally made my day!

My classes went well today. My Spanish class seems like its going to be really fun, the teacher acts really goofy to help you understand the meaning of the Spanish words and it makes it really fun. She seems like a good teacher.

I already have homework so I better get going and finish that up and get some practicing done :)

School and other things

Well, school started today. It was the first day of my last semester of my bachelors degree. I've had a really hard time wanting to go back. I realized how much I like not being stressed out, just working and keeping up the house. Its hard to want stress, which is basically what school is. But I will be so glad to be done. I didn't have much as far as classes today, all I had was my audition for orchestra (the BSU Symphony Orchestra), which went better than any audition I have ever taken. I was so pleased with how it went that I celebrated by eating a Symphony chocolate bar (hehe, I'm funny! just kidding ;) ).

Here is what my class load looks like for this semester:

Monday: Instrumental Conducting, Spanish 101, Music History III

Tuesday: Orchestra

Wednesday: Instrumental Conducting, Spanish 101, Music History III

Thursday: Spanish, Viola Lesson, Concert Class, Orchestra

Friday: Spanish 101, Music History III, Studio Class

I'm also taking a two credit Senior Recital. My recital has been scheduled for Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 3:30pm! Put it on your calendar and be there! It should be great! It will be in the Recital Hall at the Morrison Center in Boise :)

Shouldn't be too bad, really. I'm sure I'll have a lot of practicing to do for my conducting class and history will be hard for sure. I'll be able to pass all of them, hopefully I can get A's or B's in all of them.

So I got two $20 gift cards to the website Shutterfly (best picture and photo book website ever! sign up for their email list and you'll get lots of freebies ;) I rarely buy anything, just use the

codes for the free stuff and pay for shipping!) I'm going to use my gift cards to print my graduation announcements. My friend Angel, the same one that took our Christmas pictures, was nice enough to consent to go out with me in the freezing cold and take my pictures for the announcements! She's super awesome :) I'll post some good ones later, just as soon as I've edited them and stuff. There are a ton of really great shots, Angel has a natural talent for taking awesome pictures!

We have been needing a new bedspread for a while and I went to Ross yesterday and they were really cheap! We got this awesome bedspread and I love it to death! And it wasn't very

expensive and it is really nice quality :) We are super excited!

Another thing I have been meaning to post about is some goals that I have, NOT New Year's resolutions, I don't subscribe to that. Just goals that happen to coincide with the beginning of a new year.

1. Read my scriptures and say my prayers

2. Attend the temple more regularly

3. Be better at getting my visiting teaching done

4. Work out more regularly

5. Eat more healthily

6. Perform an awesome senior recital, this involves practicing as much as possible

7. Graduate from college

8. Audition for the Boise Philharmonic, even if I don't win a position, I want the experience

9. Be more productive, this involves specifically not wasting time on things that aren't that important, like Facebook.

10. Blog and write in my journal more consistently, for this one I made a very cute purchase ;)

I have a few other goals that I am working on but some of them are too personal to share online, so you'll just have to wonder what they are ;)

Cute hubby picture :) I love him! He's sure been sweet lately (well, he's always sweet, he's just been especially sweet the past week or so). He gave me a wonderful priesthood blessing last night since I'm starting school. It was exactly what I needed. It amazes me that the Lord, through my husband, knows exactly what I need. Tyler mentioned things in my blessing that I was worried about but hadn't even tried to talk to him about. Truly inspired! I love Tyler and I'm so grateful for a good man that is worthy to hold and exercise the priesthood and bless our little family.

He's so great!

New Years in Idaho Falls

We had a really fun time visiting our Grandma and Grandpa McClellan in Idaho Falls over New Years. We hadn't seen them since our wedding over a year and a half ago so we were very happy to see them and spend some time with them again. Grandma and Grandpa served a mission in London, England for 18 months and they left a little over a month after we got married.
Here are just a couple pics of our weekend in Idaho Falls:
James and the feast


Grandma and James


Aunt Sherry and Tyler


Grandpa watching football :) (sorry, kinda blurry)


(again, a little blurry) the beautiful sunset on our drive home.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pictures that we took for our Christmas Cards

We had a lot of fun taking pictures for our Christmas card. We handed our camera to our good friend Angel, who did a fabulous job taking pictures of us. It was super cold but we had a good time and Angel has an perfect eye for good shots. She was awesome!