Adventure is out there!

David and I went hiking at Hawk Mountain today...it was AWESOME!

I met him at his house around 9:15, we got all bundled up, picked up some McDonald's breakfast, and then we were off! We got to Hawk Mountain around 11:30, picked up our trail maps at the Visitor Center, and then journeyed out into the cold.

I insisted on taking his picture in the Visitor Center...he looks so adorable!

We picked the Red Trail (River of Rocks Trail) and we started our descent down the mountain. It was rated a "moderate" trail so it wasn't too bad, but sections were just clusters of rocks you had to maneuver your way through...and footing was tricky at times. We stopped about every half an hour to sit and take a short five minute break. I had packed snacks so along the way we had cereal bars, turkey and cheese sandwiches,  and M&Ms. YUM. Food tastes so much better when you're hiking through mountains. :P

Food break/consult the map break!

I conquered a fallen tree!

After about two hours, we were both exhausted and the trail was taking us back up the mountain so our glutes were getting QUITE the work out! About every ten minutes David would say, "Oh look! We're close to the end!" and we'd have just a LITTLE more motivation to keep going...to only find out that FALSE. It was a deceived ending.

When we got to the top of the mountain (but not back to our starting point yet), there was an intersection. Looking at the map, it showed that if we took the left path it was like a shortcut to get back to the Visitor Center. So of course we started down that way...WITHOUT READING THE DESCRIPTION IN THE BROCHURE OF THE TRAIL. We kind of accidentally took the hardest trail without knowing it...BUT OH WE KNEW IT SOON ENOUGH.

The trail soon became all boulders, and the only reason we knew which way to go was because of the occasional orange spray paint leading the way. It was slow going, BUT THEN...we realized we were on top of a mini mountain of boulders and the trail went DOWN the boulders! David tossed his walking sticks down to the bottom of the VERY STEEP PILE OF ROCKS, and we scooted and shimmied our way down EXTREMELY CAREFULLY.

Once we were actually on the forest floor, it was kinda cool to realize what we had accomplished but I'm not sure if I'm going to voluntarily hike that trail again. :P

When we looked at the map again, we saw the description of the trail: "The rocky, difficult Escarpment Trail follows the ridge edge and consists of large boulders that require rock scrambling to traverse."

ROCK SCRAMBLING INDEED.

It was a great day though. We spent a total of three hours hiking...we went completely down the mountain and then back up again! Looking down and seeing how far we had gone was really cool. We had an awesome adventure together. :)

Top of the mountain! David took this after we finished the hike...I dunno if you can see, but behind me there's the tree, and then to the right of the tree there's these two random white specks. Those are huge piles of white rock, AND WE HIKED AROUND THEM. So that's how far we went down and then came back up. :)

"SANTA'S NOT REAL"

Driving home from Bucs yesterday (which was FANTASTIC! Not the drive home...the camp on Sunday :P) mom was telling me stories about one of the kids in her 1st grade class who just blurts whatever thought comes to his mind. This past week, the principal came and was reading a story about Santa and this boy raised his hand and said, "Santa's not real." The principal ignored the comment and just kept reading.

Later in the day though, mom went to pick her class up from library and heard one of her little African-American girls yelling at the boy: "Santa Claus IS real! You can't be telling me he ain't!" Mom pulled her aside and had this brilliant conversation with her.

Mom: Have you ever seen the Polar Express?
Girl: No...but I've heard of it.
Mom: Well, in the story there's this Christmas bell that rings, but only people who believe are able to hear the bell. You believe in Santa Claus, right?
Girl: *nods her head vigorously*
Mom: Well (insert little boy's name here) doesn't. And it works the same way as the bell in the movie, because he doesn't believe, Santa doesn't visit his house. So he doesn't know Santa.
Girl: *eyes get huge*
Mom: In class we've talked a lot about understanding how people have different families and respecting them. His family doesn't believe in Santa Claus, but we can't yell at him for that. He doesn't understand Santa Claus because he doesn't think he's real. Does that make sense?
Girl: *nods head*

ISN'T THAT GENIUS??? My mom is such an awesome teacher!

Drum Corps Update

Hellooooooooooooooooooo blog.

Yes, I have abandoned you as of late...but not due to any failure on your part. My life has just been awesomely busy.

SO. A drum corps update is in order!

I did NOT make the Bluecoats...but the audition camp weekend was a PHENOMENAL experience! David picked me up Friday morning around 11 in his parent's van, quick pit stop at McDonald's (I think David and I single-handedly keep McDonald's and Olive Garden in business), and then we were off to Reading to pick up Connor. I know Connor through Millersville's marching band...he plays tuba and is Jolene's (sweetest girl in the mello section who marched Bucs with David way back when) boyfriend. After loading his tuba and everything else in the van we were off to Cracker Barrel to pick up Jane...never met Jane before that weekend, she knew Connor through Reading Buccaneers and was also a tuba player. Now we had TWO tubas in the back of the van, along with a mellophone and a trumpet...and all our suitcases jammed into whatever space remained. :P

Then began the six hour drive to Canton, Ohio...David took the first hour, and I did all the rest of the driving. We got there around 7:30ish and it was SNOWING. AND FREEZING COLD. None of us had packed winter jackets either...we just had our sweatshirts. :P We moved all our stuff inside to the gym, then went right back out to the cold and started unloading the instruments from the Bluecoats trucks. Once that was done and more people had showed up, David and a bunch of his buddies from last season decided to go out for ribs and me, Connor, and Jane tagged along. It was awesome cause I had already met a bunch of David's friends at Allentown or when I visited him in Indianapolis, so it was crazy fun sitting at a table talking and laughing with all of them.

Getting back, Jane and I decided to shower so we wouldn't have to in the morning...and that was when I learned that in drum corps it's one big shower and everyone's just naked and doesn't care. It was actually funny cause it didn't phase me at all but there were other girls who came in, saw some of us just standing around naked, turned around and walked out. :P

Slept on an air mattress on the gym floor next to David, and the next morning the craziness began. Quick change, quick move everything out of the gym and into the hallway, quick breakfast, quick register, then meeting! Everything's really efficient in drum corps...it kinda has to be. After the meeting we went right into brass ensemble and the rest of the day was a mixture of full brass ensemble, sectionals, your audition, and visual work.

My audition went REALLY well for me...best it could have, I think, which makes me happy. I also got a lot of compliments on my marching and rehearsal etiquette, so I was feeling really good about making the corps. So on Sunday, when I was told I didn't make it I was BUMMED. The guy told me that I was JUST below the cut-off line for music...everything else was great and the staff had noticed me, but because I didn't get a certain number on music...yeah. BUT. The interesting thing is that they raised the music qualification score from last year, so pretty much if I had auditioned last year I would have made it. Which makes me feel good about my progress and what I accomplished in 5 months on the mellophone.

When I got home, I kept practicing and the next weekend I went to Reading Buccaneers. Even though they're DCA and not DCI, they have a fantastic reputation, I've always wanted to march there, and I knew I'd get a great experience to help me for my audition at Bluecoats next year. That camp was SO much fun...I love it there.

WELL. Then I got an email from the staff at Blue Stars (another DCI group...usually gets around 10th place, not as prestigious as Bluecoats but still good) saying the director at Bluecoats recommended me to them and they want me to march with them. DILEMMA DILEMMA DILEMMA. For a couple days I was seriously thinking about which group to march...Bucs or Blue Stars. Eventually it came down to money and realizing the only way I could march Blue Stars was if I got a sponsorship that completely covered the $3000 cost of tour fees, and that wasn't very realistic. So I'm sticking with Bucs. :)

Even though I didn't make Bluecoats, I'm really proud that I put myself out there after only 5 months, and that I wasn't one of the worst players...I could keep up with everyone and it was awesome. I'm SO excited to march with the Reading Buccaneers this summer and I can't wait to re-audition at Bluecoats next year and blow them away. :)

Who needs the gym?

...when you've got your own do-it-yourself dorm workout!

Last night, my roommate Jordan wanted to go to the gym around 8...only to realize that on Fridays the gym closes at 7. It was at this point that I recommend we do our own workout series in our dorm room. :)

After dinner, me, Jordan, and Paul were chilling in our room...and I say OUR as in it's Paul's room too...he's pretty much our third roommate. He even slept in my bed Thursday night, leaving me to make a nest of blankets on the floor...oh good times. ANYWHO. So we were all in the room and ready to go for this workout session! At which point Paul hopped up on the bed and went on his laptop...leaving the working out to me and Jordan.

We started with these leg exercises I do everyday (mostly when she's not in the room cause some of them look pretty silly) and then moved on to ab workouts that incorporated the ten pound weights Paul had brought over from his room. We eventually abandoned the ten pound weights and just used heavy books instead...this is where the hysterical laughing started. We had been giggling at each other pretty much the entire time cause some of the stuff we were doing looked ridiculous but when it got to the weights, her and I really struggled so we looked absolutely ridiculous.

Then we moved onto planking...which of course included moaning and wailing that our abs hurt. We attempted a combination of front plank, side plank right, front plank, side plank left, front plank...but most of the side planks I just ended up collapsing on Jordan and then we laughed our heads off. At one point, our RA knocked on our door and told us to stop shrieking...oops. :P

Oh! We were listening to Maroon 5's "Misery" for one of the planks and the timing was PERFECT (we had a stopwatch and did intervals of 30 seconds) because it got to the line, "There ain't nobody who can comfort me!" and then the "Oh YEAH!" right after that was right after we collapsed from holding the position...could the timing be any better?

We ended the night with the traditional sit-ups, and Paul joined us at this point...Jordan and I had to use all our might to hold his feet down, it was a little funny. :P And then Jordan led stretching! That was a nice cool-down...though poor Paul, every time Jordan said "touch your toes" he made this sad face because he in fact cannot touch his toes. BUT HE'LL GET THERE! Have faith, Paul!

Once we finished working out, it was homework time, and then movie time! We watched this movie called "Spirited Away"...an Anime movie for kids. It actually wasn't terrible. Just a little bizarre. :P

Overall, a fantastic night. :)

Gay marriage for the WIN!

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6846855/gay-men-will-marry-your-girlfriends

Please watch. It's hysterical. :)

Definitely doing this someday!

You know you and your boyfriend are complete music nerds when he spends the night, you two wake up early in the morning, go to the music building, practice separately in the two concert halls (cause no one's using them and why not take advantage of the amazing sound and reverb?), and then play through Bluecoats chorales together.

OH YEAH. WE'RE THAT AWESOME.

That's YOU, President Obama!

Sugar Bowl!

At Millersville University, there's this restaurant called The Sugar Bowl. It's basically like a little shop that sells amazing-smelling greasy food: pizza, Stromboli, mozzarella sticks, hot sandwiches, waffle fries...you get the idea.

The Honors College here does a fundraiser/community service event where students from the Honors College volunteer for 2 hour shifts, get a driver, pile into a car, and act as the "delivery boy" for The Sugar Bowl all over campus.

Last night, Megan, Paul, Andrew, and I all piled into Norma's car and took the 12-2AM shift. And as if that weren't fun enough, we all coordinated and wore "ugly sweaters", and Megan, Norma and I all wore our awesome boots. We looked freakin' fantastic (or weird...however you choose to look at it, haha).

Delivering food turned out to be really fun. Driving around in a car packed with friends, playing loud music, yelling directions at a driver who doesn't know her left from her right, and then running up to dorm buildings/off-campus houses and delivering the food. We encountered quite a few interesting people...which is kind of like DER, cause who else would order a whole bunch of food on a Saturday night after midnight? There were these two drunk guys who offered us a handful of popcorn instead of a tip, and then the one guy who signed the receipt to authorize his credit card crumpled up the signed part and tried to throw it away. There was a house that REEKED of pot...ugh. We delivered to some people we know in Diehm and one of them was high as anything and the other was drunk...those two paid in quarters. Another house where you could smell the beer even before you opened the door...yeah, just a lot of drunk people. But hey! Because they were drunk they didn't wanna think about making change so we got a bunch of tips cause they just would hand us a twenty and say keep the change.

Good times. :)

Norma and Megan!

Me and Paul!

Our group! From left to right: Paul, Andrew, me, Norma, and Megan.

Boots! Left to right it's Norma, me, then Megan.



\\\

Psalm 118:17

I started attending S. Mennonite Church when I was in 3rd grade. When grades 6-8 were combined as the middle school group, I met a girl named Emilee, a year older than me. Her mom, Wendy, has been my spiritual mentor for years and I've spent a couple nights at their house, bonding with the family and staying up late watching "The Devil Wears Prada" with Emilee. On retreats, Emilee and I were roommates and in church we sang duets together. We weren't best friends, but we did get very close.

Emilee has been struggling with lung cancer for the past couple of months. It's been a roller coaster...one day getting a report that she's improving, another finding out more devastating news. Last night, her family visited her at the hospital and said their goodbyes...she's not expected to live much longer.

This is the latest update from her dad, written around 9 this morning:

"For weeks now, Emilee has been saying that her goal was to be back at home by November. It's November 1 (All Saints Day) and Emilee is slowly making her way "home." Her dear, little heart is working extra hard to stay alive but she is now receiving 75% of her oxygen from the BiPap machine.

I don't think any of us will ever know just how much Emilee has wanted to live. Last night with my (Jim) family and Wendy's sister gathered around her bed (while others prayed next door) she told us to make a circle. We did and then she pointed at three scriptures mounted on the walls (Psalm 118:17 "I didn't die, I lived! And now I'm telling the world what God did," Mark10:27 "With man this is impossible. But not with God. With God ALL things are possiible," and Ps. 118:13 "I was right on the cliff edge, ready to fall, when God grabbed and held me.")

She took the verses and placed them on her body and asked us to pray them back to the Lord. We did. My sister, Jen, said that she thought it was Emilee's way of saying, "God, I'm going to ask you once more to heal me and to make me whole." We also sang worship songs to encourage her faith and our faith.

Emilee reminds me of Jacob who wrestled an angel and who wouldn't let go until he got a blessing. She hasn't received the blessing that she had asked for but today she anticipates the blessing of an eternity spent with her Lord.

There are no words to say just how much it hurts to watch her slowly fading away and becoming less responsive by the hour. We're glad to see her struggle with this horrible cancer coming to an end and we're grateful for the hope that Christ has given her to pass from this life into the presence of God. The void that she will leave behind in our lives will always be with us. We are humbled that we have had the privilege of knowing and loving her during her almost 20 years on earth."

Please pray for her family...

Quote of the night: "Mitt Romney just doesn't know a thing...he could be a woman and he wouldn't even know."

Bluecoats Ohio Audition Camp

Today I paid the online fee for the Bluecoats Ohio Audition Camp at the end of November.

I texted my parents with the exciting (partially exciting because it's Bluecoats, and partially exciting because I paid for it with my own money which I earned---I'm very proud of that) news, and my mom asked if it felt "real" now. My answer was no...it's felt real ever since I downloaded the audition packet over a month ago. The anxiousness and nervousness and eagerness and enthusiasm is what keeps building up every day.

I don't think I've ever wanted anything this badly before in my life. I don't think I've ever worked this hard for anything before in my life.

I am determined to make it.

I am also struggling with self-doubt, fear...worrying that I won't be enough.

But every morning I keep waking up and practicing at 7:00AM, and every day I make something just a LITTLE bit better.

I have six weeks to be good enough to get a call-back. And then I have about a month until my second audition, when I find out if I've made it.

I can't wait. :)

RIDICULOUS AND FULL OF POOP

I was stumbling the other day, and this article (http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/ALlulr/www.menshealth.com/mhlists/best_sex_tips/printer.php) came up under my "relationship" category.

IT IS RIDICULOUS AND FULL OF POOP.

First of all, sex tips on the internet are insane. Have a good relationship and actually communicate with your partner.

Second of all, these are STUPID!

Their idea of a perfect compliment: "The best compliments are the ones that involve multiple senses. "You have beautiful breasts" is nice. "You have beautiful breasts—they feel so soft and warm in my hands" is that much more intimate."

AWKWARD! No one wants to hear that!

"Shop for cologne she likes"...and what if I don't like cologne?

Start sex in a new place: "The kitchen. The bathroom. Quebec City." Quebec City????

Have sex in a forest: "New Place to Have Sex III: a national park. If the missus likes to vocalize, pitch your tent in Alaska's Denali National Park, where 6 million untamed acres and a crowd-thinning permit system leave little risk of waking the neighbors. She'll gasp in delight when the midnight sun bathes the Big One (that's Mt. McKinley, buddy) in salmon pink light." There are SOOOO many things wrong with this! Alaksa's Denali National Park? Yeah OKAY. My girl's loud so let's buy plane tickets to go tenting in Alaska. Gasp in delight when the midnight sun bathes blah blah blah...if this were an English paper I was grading, I would write AWK AWK! next to that sentence.

And who the heck decided a sex position should be called Yab-Yum???

And THAT my friends, is what college is all about

I had a FANTASTIC night tonight.

After my World Ocean class ended at 7:15, I hunkered down outside the classroom (which is really like a huge auditorium) and waited for 8:00...which is when Bingo started! I met up with Paul, Taylor, and Korbin and ALL OF US WON SOMETHING. First, Paul won this weird freaky light thingy...dunno what it's called but it's spiffy. Then I won a Subway's gift card (which will turn into a random present for David) and a box of candy for Taylor. And THEN, using one of my Bingo sheets, Korbin won this legitimate fleece jacket that says Millersville Meteorology on it. Not gonna lie, it's pretty spiffy.

So that lasted from about 8:00 to 10:00ish? Then it was time for Late Night! We all went to The Anchor, and Paul and I got these wonderful little cups of worms and dirt. YUM. Walking out, we ran into a bunch of people from marching band and of course we ended up forming this little circle and having an awesome conversation in the middle of the hallway. Eventually, me, Paul, Tyler, Rick, and Haydn moved to the couches, plopped ourselves down, and didn't leave until around 11:30 when a janitor told us the building was closing. OOPS.

So many random hysterical conversations that all inevitably led back to drum corps or music...you gotta love bandies. :)

So true!

HMMMM...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/15/charity-president-unhappy-about-paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-photo-op/

Hello, Paul.

Keep working on your essay!

Romney wants to cut PBS? Seriously?

Romney wants to increase military spending? SERIOUSLY?

Though my favorite part of the entire night was after Romney had been talking for a couple minutes about how if he was elected he'd sit down with Democrats on the first day and establish a positive relationship...and then Obama started his next segment with something along the lines of, "You'll have a very busy first day then, because you've also promised to cut Obamacare on your first day and that won't be popular with the Democrats at all."

BURN.

Yaaaaaay politics

Warning to those who are about to read this...the following post is about politics. I never post about politics. EVER. I never talk about politics. EVER. Never EVER. Oh gosh...I'm starting to sound like that stupid Taylor Swift song...

Anywho. I'm really kinda psyched about being able to vote in the upcoming election. I've never been into politics and I still don't totally understand everything, but a lot of my classes in college discuss current political issues and I've had some fantastic conversations with my friends about what we believe in and all that good stuff, so it's really got me thinking about who I'm voting for.

Tonight I went on 2012-presidential-candidates.findthedata.org which compares information about each candidate side-by-side. I've known for awhile that I'm voting for Obama, and reading about some of Romney's stances tonight just completely confirmed it for me.

Let's go through this issue by issue, shall we?

First of all, Obama believes in upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, whereas Romney wants to repeal it. I definitely think the ACA (Affordable Care Act) should stay in place. It will expand coverage for 32 million more Americans while at the same time lowering health care costs over the long term. It also has provisions dedicated to improving the quality and system of service, places a strong emphasis on prevention (free disease screenings and immunizations, HIV screening, STD/STI prevention counseling, cervical cancer screening, contraceptive coverage, etc).

Second point. Obama supports same-sex marriage while Romney opposes it. Having a dad who's gay and living with the most amazing partner, I am a strong supporter of same-sex rights and equality, including gay marriage. I am extremely impressed that Obama announced his support for same-sex couples, knowing that it is such a controversial issue in this nation, and admire his courage. Romney? Yeah, no respect yet.

Next category...abortion. This one's interesting for me. Obama is pro-choice, while Romney is pro-life. While I personally don't think abortion is ever the right option, I also believe that pro-choice is the correct political policy for our country. Trying to enforce pro-life at a national level is impossible, just the same way I think there will never be a national law permitting same-sex marriage. There are just too many people whose opinions you simply can't sway. So although I believe in pro-life, I don't think it's the right choice for our country...if that makes sense.

Romney allows the death penalty sentence. I don't think I'm okay with that. I don't fully have a formed opinion on this one though.

Romney also promotes abstinence only education. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? That is INSANE. However "moral" you want high school and college students to be, it's not gonna happen. You can't promote education for your ideal world when everyone lives in reality. If you do, you just come off as being dumb. Refusing to teach teens about contraceptives is ridiculous. End of discussion.

AND ROMNEY DOESN'T BELIEVE IN CLIMATE CHANGE. WHEN THERE'S EVIDENCE ALL OVER THE PLACE SUPPORTING ITS EXISTENCE. Sea levels are rising. In the last century, levels rose about 17 centimeters. The rate has nearly doubled that in the past decade. The global temperature is rising, oceans are warming, ice sheets are shrinking, POLAR BEARS ARE DYING.

Moving onto foreign affairs. In terms of the United States' role in the world, Obama believes we need to "work with multilateral organizations and allies to achieve objectives". Romney, on the other hand, wants to "construct foreign policy that broadcasts American exceptionalism [and] act unilaterally to accomplish the United States' goals". UHHHHHHH??? Seriously? Do you know how selfish and egotistical that sounds? WOW...


I could keep going down the list and writing in caps locks but I think I've made my point. :P

All the fun!

OH MY WORD COLLEGE IS SO AWESOME. I keep meaning to make a blog post about all the funny stories/fantastic times I've had so far but I keep forgetting...so I'm gonna try to write one really quickly now before I go to my next class!

First off, I have made many wonderful fantastic friends. The Honors College at Millersville is like a big family, it's really awesome. My entire hallway gets along great and every night there's usually a big group of people stuffed into one room and we just sit and chill, play card games, or watch a movie. I'm especially close with Paul (who's in the hallway across from mine) and Brittany. On the third day I knew Brittany, I proposed to her. She had drawn Batman on her whiteboard on her dorm door, and I instantly realized I needed her in my life. And I know Paul from marching band, he plays tenor sax and he is one of the chillest dudes I've ever met. Incredibly laid back and just fun to be around all the time. The three of us do a bunch of stuff together...eat, play foxtail out on the quad (big grassy area by the dorms), have dorm fort sleepovers...oh yes, you read that correctly. :) DORM FORT SLEEPOVER!

One night, we discovered that Brittany's shoes have weird holes in the sides of them, and so we decided to stick plastic forks and spoons into them...that's the logical thing to do, right? And then she walked to midnight breakfast (which is a huge buffet they serve at midnight on Saturdays in one of the dining halls, DELICIOUS) with them still in her shoes. It was slow going...but HYSTERICAL. So many people asked her what she was doing, and she'd say, "It's a social experiment"...and then they walked away from us, haha.

Then once we got our food, she actually used the plastic silverware that had been in her shoes to eat her breakfast. She turned herself into Wolverine by sticking them between her fingers:

Oh yes. She is indeed awesome.

The three of us also play this fun game of Volleyball Tennis. We lay in the hallway on our backs, and pass a volleyball between the three of us, and whenever the person with the ball throws it, they make a "tennis" noise...aka sex noise. Within MINUTES, people are out of their rooms staring at us and asking what we're doing...it's quite funny. Paul has the best "tennis" noises...it's a little disturbing, actually.

The Honors College family has also kind of made up its own slang and way of speaking. We tend to verb EVERYTHING...so instead of saying, "Do you want to go to the Upper Deck for dinner tonight?" we say, "Let's Upper Deck-it for dinner!" And we like to use "all the" in front of everything, as in, "I'm having ALL THE fun" or "ALL THE awkwardness of the turtle!" Things like that.

I have many more stories, but I have to start getting ready for class now...well, technically I have to get all my stuff together for class, which is followed IMMEDIATELY (as in I have to run) by marching band, which goes until 6, and then jazz band starts at 7...so I really have to get my stuff together for all three.

I will leave you with some more random college pictures... :)

You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick? Then there's other people, when you meet them you think, "Not bad. They're okay." And then you get to know them and... and their face just sort of becomes them. Like their personality's written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful.

— Amy Pond

All Moved In!

So I'm at college... :)

I've been at Millersville ever since Sunday, and I absolutely love it here. Every day I'm meeting more people in the band (we have to sit at a big table in the dining hall now cause so many people have joined our lunch group), and today all the other freshmen moved in! My roommate's awesome. :) And I LOOOOOVE my RA Allison! Everything's just amazing...I'm so happy. :)

Oh and band camp and playing the mello is fantastic. :) Today we had twin day and me and Tyler and Joline were triplets...we all wore mismatched knee high socks, black shorts, the same style hat, and strapless sports bras. Speaking of bras, I love how in college we can just take our shirts off and it's no big deal. Makes life so much easier...I hate wearing my shirt. :P

I think that's my quick update for now!

My man's home. :)

You know...I always thought I only wanted 2 or 3 children...now I have to reconsider...

Evolution of Beauty

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8NoAUn/:elAxPR_3:GGKIRp.P/www.youtube.com/watch?v=knEIM16NuPg/

Tomorrow night, after being apart for 78 days, I get to see man. :)

Allentown is hosting the DCI Eastern Classic and after the Bluecoats perform, I get to go to where their buses are parked and I'll have about an hour with David before they leave again.

And then a week from today, I'll be in the theaters watching DCI live.

Day after that, I'm leaving early in the morning with David's family to drive to Indianapolis for DCI Finals.

I AM SO. INSANELY. EXCITED.

Meet the Band Day

Yesterday was QUITE an interesting day for me. I had Meet the Band Day at Millersville, pretty much like the band's first rehearsal. I had to be there at 8:30 to rent an instrument, so I left the house around 6:45 since it takes about an hour and a half to get there and I wanted to leave time to spare. WELL. After driving 30 minutes down the road I realized...I FORGOT ALL THE PAPERWORK AND THE CHECKS I HAVE TO HAND IN. So I called my mom, and we decided to meet halfway in this one town. I get there...waiting for her...I call her...and then find out that she's in the wrong spot. My poor directionally impaired mother...so I told her to stay where she was and I would come find her (I had the GPS). So I call her as I'm coming off the exit to let her know I'm there and she starts saying, "I see you! I see you!" I look over and she's parked on the side of the road next to the light immediately following the exit. She tells me to turn around and go back to the light (cause I had passed it) and so I do and when I get there, she's out of her car running across the street. Car still moving, I fling open the passenger door, she hangs me the paperwork, slams the door, and I take the exit onto 422 West to continue heading to Millersville. IT MUST HAVE LOOKED REALLY SHADY TO THE CAR BEHIND ME. Haha!

So now I'm like...ridiculously late. It's 7:48 and I need to be at Millersville in 45 minutes when my GPS is telling me it's gonna take me more than an hour to get there. I sped SO MUCH down that highway it was insane...but then it got to a point where it wasn't highway anymore, it was a town with stoplights, so then I couldn't do anything about it and I just had to sit and wait in my car with a ball of stress/anxiety sitting in my stomach.

I eventually made it to the campus, found Jefferson Hall, got my parking permit, parked, and ran inside at about 8:53. I got my instrument, went to the band room (where the meeting had already started), and stood awkwardly in the back for the next 15 minutes. Not my best entrance, but I was there.

After general info time, we got together with our section to meet our section leader and other members. My section leader's name is Izzy and he's AWESOME. He's just a lot of fun, really chill, and really nice. There are 7 other mellophones in the section (including me) so that means we have 8 which is FANTASTIC. One of them wasn't there yesterday (some family conflict) but I got to meet the other five players (who are also all freshmen). One girl I knew I absolutely didn't like the first time I saw her/she opened her mouth to talk...but whatever, I'll live. There was one guy and one girl that were really shy, so I didn't get to know them that well, but then Tyler and Jolene...have to be some of my favorite people I have ever met.

They both march Reading Buccaneers together and when I heard that I asked Jolene (who's name sounded really familiar) if she knew David Kile (cause he marched there summer of 2009) and she was like, "YES! He's awesome! He's such a good player!" and then I was like, "He's my boyfriend!" and she laughed and said, "I KNEW you looked familiar!" So that was pretty cool. :)

After sectional meetings, we got back together as a band (minus percussion, pit, and guard) and started playing. YIKES. We first played the Bb scale a whole bunch of times...which I can do but I flub out on the higher notes. Played the scale as quarters, then eighths (which I struggling with but was aight), then triplets, then sixteenths...yeah no, couldn't do those. THEN we got right into the show music which is INTENSE. Like...I think I would have had trouble sightreading some of the parts on SAXOPHONE. Yeesh...I played what I could, and picked up more notes each time we went through, but it was a real struggle for me.

I'm so not used to music being a struggle. It was very difficult for me mentally realizing that I just can't do some of this stuff...at least not yet. That's never happened to me and I really don't like it. I know I'm a beginner and that's to be expected but I've been working my butt off practicing EVERY DAY TWICE A DAY for the past couple weeks and I'm done with missing partials or not having a consistent tone. It's like...in the world of my lessons, I'm doing great cause I'm making a lot of progress and improving every week. But in the real world, I'm so far behind...it's very discouraging.

Overall....I played, I struggled, but I survived. And I did have fun, the people there are great and I absolutely love the director. This is just going to be an extremely challenging couple of months for me.

Sidenote: For those of you who are interested, here's a little excerpt of the show and what I have to play. Oh and remember that this is in 12/8, so when you see eighth notes...yeah, those are actually triplets.

Thrift Store Addict

Hello, my name is Rachel.
Hello Rachel...
And I am a thrift store addict.

Every Thursday I have my mellophone lessons (which are going GREAT, by the way!), and close to the place where I take lessons is a thrift store. Over the past couple of weeks, I have acquired winter boots, black ballet flats, black heels, floral flats, an army-green cardigan, a flowy white and black striped button up shirt, and a pair of skinny jeans.

How can I not keep returning when every time I go there's a different sale? Blue tags half off...green tags half off...red tags half off...next week is yellow half off!

The Piano Guys

AHHHHHH! I love this!!!! Check out the other videos they have too. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VqTwnAuHws

One Month From Now...

In ONE MONTH I will be completely moved in to my dorm at Millersville and getting ready to have my first night of band camp with MU's Marching Band.

HOLY POOP.

For the longest time I felt like summer was going way too slowly, I just wanted summer to end...and now, even though it's still July, the end is coming fast! I have something big every single week now until my move-in date.

Next week: July 27th, Meet the Band Day at Millersville
Week after: August 3rd, Allentown DCI (I get to see David!)
Week after that: August 9th-13th, I'm in Indianapolis with David's family for DCI Finals
Following week: August 13th-18th, last week before move-in (time with David!)

And then August 19th I move in!

I'm absolutely infuriated and disgusted.

Quotes taken from SkinnyGurl site:

I didn't eat yesterday,
I'm not gonna eat today,
I'm not gonna eat tomorrow,
Cuz I'm gonna be a supermodel.

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels 

If [Emma Watson] drops 15 pounds she'll be perfect to me.

I adore [Leighton Meester]! I'd wish she would just lose a little bit of weight.

[Emma Stone] has lost a lot of weight, BEAUTIFUL 

Sickening.

SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING!

In the past two weeks, I have purchased a new dress, two new pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of jeans, one pair of dress pants (THAT I GOT FOR $3!), three tank tops, and several shirts.

I love being able to drive myself around. :)

BLOOOOOO!!!!!!!

So the Bluecoats performed tonight with some changes to their show and a totally new ending. They got QUITE the reaction!

"Big crowd reaction on the final chord of the opening statement...Nice call and answer between trumpet soloist and the rest of the section. This is the most groove we've gotten from Bluecoats in a while...Gorgeous baritone solo to start the second act of the show. Horns build into a lush ballad sound that only Bluecoats can do...Brass is tight tonight, in a good way...Overheard after the drum feature and subsequent finish of the piece by the horns: "That was fun!"...They've tightened up transitions between musical segments, too. The show flows even better than at the start of the season...I like how the corps has removed their helmets and, throughout this push, throw away their masks...Final chord is much longer now, which is good. Crowd is on their feet. Well done, Bloo."

Hostage

Last night at precisely 9:12 I got a frantic phone call from my friend Harry: "You live near Mine Hill, right???"
"...yes?"
"Do you know where Delphi Road is?"
"Umm...it sounds familiar but I'm not sure exactly---"
"Okay nevermind, I have to go!"

Then at 9:33, he called again: "Do you know where Meng or Yerger Road is?"
"Yeah, I know where those are."
"Okay, are you busy tonight?"
"Not really."
"I'm outside your house. Get out here and jump in the car."

So I did.

I got in and Jeremy was sitting in the passenger seat on the phone with Meaghan and Kaitlin. As they were frantically shouting directions to him and road names I took them to Meng Road (which, by the way, is a creepy backroad in the middle of the woods with absolutely no street lights) and we drove and drove and then saw two figures jumping up and down. It was Meaghan and Kaitlin. They ran to the car, got in, and we sped away to the high school.

I was now involved in a game called Hostage.

The rules of the game are pretty simple. There are two teams with at least four people, with two cars and blindfolds. Two members of each team get into the opposing team's car and are blindfolded so they don't know where they're going.

Both cars then drive away from the starting location (which was the high school) and have 15 minutes to get as far away and as in as remote a place as possible. The blindfolded team members are then dropped off wherever the car is when the time runs out.

Then the goal is for the teams to find their teammates who were taken "hostage" and make it back to the high school before the other team.

And one last thing...no GPS allowed.

I got picked up in Round 1, when Meaghan and Kaitlin were the hostages and dropped off in the creepy woods behind my house, and Harry and Jeremy were their teammates who had to find them.

We got back to the high school and there were a TON of people there. There were four different teams, and we did "Winners vs. Losers" after each round.

Round 2 I was in Harry's car again and our hostages were my friends Grace and Blaise. We dropped them off in a secluded area in Phoenixville, and then called Meaghan and Jeremy (our other teammates) to find out where to go pick them up. After about 15/20 minutes, we found them wandering the backroads of Skippack. Just typing it out, it sounds REALLY simple to find them, but it's REALLY hard. You're on the phone with two people who have no idea where they are and all the clues you get are, "We're in the woods...we see hills! There's a house...not really well lit. The speed limit here is 25! Oh...it changed to 35! WE FOUND A ROAD SIGN! Cressman Road? Do you know that road? Now we're on Church Road!" Thankfully we knew Cressman was off of 113 in Skippack, and then we were able to found Church Road.

Round 3 I was a hostage along with Harry and Meaghan. We got in my friend John's car (thankfully I knew everyone playing and it wasn't like total strangers), put blindfolds on, and then were raced around for 15 minutes. After the time was up, we got out of the car, and immediately sprinted our BUTTS away to find the nearest road sign or anything to ID where we were. 30 seconds into running though, Harry stopped and was like, "Guys. I know EXACTLY where we are." So then we just had to call Gerard and Tyler (the people picking us up) and let them know. Not so exciting but it's still freaky being on a dark road at around midnight and waiting for someone to come pick you up...haha.

We're getting another group together soon...I think I'm gonna be a driver next round. I know some pretty good spots to drop people... ;D

Totally Different Perspective

Grad Party!

Yesterday I had my grad party, and it was AWESOME. I've never been one for having parties at my house so my family and I were all kinda freaking out about it...cleaning EVERYTHING, setting up chairs outside, figuring out food, getting a volleyball net, decorating...but it all worked out. :)

It was really great seeing friends from school...you get used to seeing them every single day and then all of a sudden they're gone when summer hits. So it was good. :)

I also got to see some S. friends!!! Jenny, Luke, and Sam came, which was great. :) When Jenny walked in we plopped ourselves down on the couch and just talked for like 15 minutes...I figured other people could entertain themselves outside well enough, haha.

Me and Jenny!

Me, Jenny, Luke, and Sam.

Sean also came, which I was NOT expecting. He's training to be in the army, specifically infantry, and he leaves in two weeks to go to boot camp so I know he's crazy busy right now. But around 7:30 I looked up and saw this military man walk in. At first I assumed it was someone's dad or friend here to pick them up...and then I realized it was MY friend. MY Sean. I almost cried. It's one thing knowing one of your best friend's is going into the army, it's a completely different thing seeing them actually in uniform.

Me and Sean. :)

It was such a fun night...I love my friends. :) As I said in a school project I did when I was 5 (my mom brought out a lot of artwork and writing I did when I was little), "The Best Thing About Me Is: I have lots of friends". 

ROOMMATE!!!

I now officially have a roommate! When Housing options first came around I didn't request anyone because A) I didn't know anybody, and B) I was fine with the luck of the draw...being in the Honors College I seriously doubted I would end up with a complete wacko.

BUT. That has all changed! I'm a member of the Millersville Honors College on facebook and a couple days ago they created a subgroup for Fall 2012 Honors College New Members. So we've been all friending each other and messaging and all that good stuff. I've met a bunch of people who are TOTALLY AWESOME which makes me TOTALLY EXCITED about moving in. :)

The first conversation I had with this one girl, Taylor, she brought up that she saw I had done Indoor Percussion and we got into the whole story of how I ended up on Bass 4 my junior year. Out of curiosity I asked her if she knew what DCI was...AND SHE SAID YES. Do you know how many people DON'T know what drum corps is? I was so ecstatic when I heard that...and then I found out we both love camping and Disney movies and a whole bunch of other stuff...and now we're roommates! :D

AppScat

So my favorite female jazz singer is not only RIDICULOUSLY talented, she's also insanely funny...watch. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLXWJ1N5E0&list=UUZn1Ueo6cQ5TMCMTUur1mKA&index=10&feature=plcp

Little Sample of the Show :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcfdc_enQEE

DCI Akron (in theaters)

Tonight was the preview of the first shows of the top six corps from last year. WHEW that was a confusing sentence to write...

Time to write thoughts on the shows!!! In order of appearance.

• Blue Stars with the show The Blue Way: Some nice drill ideas, but it wasn't executed very well. Sloppy movement, but the music overall was entertaining and had some nice moments.

• Phantom Regiment with the show Turnadot: Pleasing to listen to with three ballads. Definitely a more difficult book (music and drill) than last year, but still not pushing it as much as I think they could. Great sound though...love their tubas. Some out-of-step feet and not polished drill, but overall, really entertaining.

• Carolina Crown with the show For the Common Good: Disclaimer...Crown is my absolute favorite corps so I'm biased toward them a bit. That aside...their show was phenomenal. INCREDIBLY difficult...insane drill that was great to watch. I love how they opened with Copland's theme "For the Common Man" and brought that back throughout the show. Their drumline was REALLY dirty though.

• Cavaliers with the show 15 Minutes of Fame: WHAT THE HECK??? Soooo not the Cavies I'm used to! It was choppy...did not flow musically. The guard was very obnoxious to me, got me annoyed and I just couldn't enjoy the show. I don't like the direction they're taking it. Only good thing to say is that their tubas had a nice moment and their pit was good.

• Cadets with the show 12.25: It's...Christmas. A drum corps is doing a CHRISTMAS show. Just getting my head around that...weird. It wasn't as terrible as I expected. It works, but it's not my favorite. They were very gimmicky with it, and I don't like that at all. Drill was great though, and the music was nice...some fantastic moments. Just...odd. I wasn't sold.

• Bluecoats with the show UnMasqued: Disclaimer...David is marching his second year with them so I'm biased. BUT...even if he wasn't with them, their show would have been one of my top two favorites of the night. Really emotional and deep...which a lot of the other shows didn't have. The performance was classy and incredibly strong. Fantastic hornline sound, and their DRUMLINE. HOLY COW I was wooting and hollering in the theater! And the cool part was that I wasn't the only one...there was an INSANELY sick bass run in there. The music left an impression (I walked out humming some of the tunes) and the drill was cool and also CLEAN...which was impressive. I like the first half of the show better than the second half, so I think that's my only complaint...but it was great.

Best part of the night? As the Bluecoats were leaving the field, they took their helmets off, AND I SAW DAVID. I first recognized one of his friends I met last year, Mike, but then I saw him and I screamed his name in the very quiet theater. I was very excited. :)

Summer!

Update time!

• GOT A LAPTOP!!!! It was my graduation present from my parents and it's AWESOME.
• Went to two very fun grad parties...got to see some of the S gang! Though I missed Jenny and my stud muffin and I was very sad about that. :(
• Father's Day was great yesterday. :) I gave my dad a Starbucks gift card and a box of cereal...my version of breakfast in bed for him, haha! Then we all went out and saw Avengers together. I LOVE THAT MOVIE!
• Went on a ten mile bike ride today with my little (even though he's taller than me now) brother Josh. IT WAS INTENSE. My legs were like jello when I got home...but it felt good.
• On Facebook I was added to the Millersville Fall 2012 Honors College group and being the extrovert I am, decided to friend everyone else in the group. So now I have like 20 messages going on at the same time...haha.
• I'M SO EXCITED FOR TONIGHT. There's a DCI showing at movie theaters...a broadcast of the first performances of the top corps from last year. Going with some PV alumni...AND I'M AN ALUMNI TOO. That's really weird to think about. :P Ah well...SO EXCITED! Maybe I'll catch a glimpse of David's face...though I doubt it, since they're wearing masks this year for their show.

I LOVE CANADA!!!

Canada was SO AWESOME. It was SUCH a fun trip! Quick list of all the things I got to do:

• Niagara "Behind the Falls" Tour
• Stayed at a hotel that had a waterpark in it
• Went to that waterpark for about four hours (also had a pizza party there!)
• Ate at a three-story McDonald's
• Met people with awesome Canadian accents
• Visited the CN Observation Tower
• Went to a Rainforest Cafe
• Saw the touring Broadway show of West Side Story
• Went to Canada's Wonderland for ten hours
• Rode a double decker bus on a two hour tour of Toronto

One of the highlights of the trip was definitely the double-decker bus tour. I loved sitting on the top of the bus and our tour guide was SO MUCH FUN. At one point, we went through an Irish section of the town and Mark (our tour guide) said, "The Irish came over to Toronto during the potato famine. When they moved here, the closest church was a few blocks away, and since they're drunkards and incredibly lazy, they decided, 'Hey! What the potato! We'll build our own church right here!'...cause you know 'What the potato!' was a common saying back then." HAHA! We were saying that the rest of the trip and the ride home...oh my word...so funny.

West Side Story has to be the other highlight...I love that show so much. So emotional...such good music...so inappropriately funny...haha, I was roaring at some points. The humor in that show is just so bawdy, but it's perfect!

Fantastic senior trip. :)

The entire Music Department at Canada Wonderland at the end of the day.

This picture was posted at a bus stop and I had to pose with him...haha!

Me and my Polish friend Jen! She's my fashionista buddy. :)

Me and Andre freaking out in the tunnels of Niagara Falls.

More Miracles!

God has answered SO many prayers lately it's insane...first of all, my friend's mom is doing really well. She did have a small stroke but they got her to the hospital in time and the doctors took great care of her.

Secondly, I had a whole ton of miracles last night at the Music Banquet. Every year, the music department has this banquet to recognize all the members (well...all the ones that show up), hand out senior awards, and announce scholarship winners. There were three awards/scholarships available that I was eligible for.

The first was the Director's Award, which is something Mr. O gives out and he chooses who he feels is his most "outstanding" senior. He started giving a speech about it, talking about how the person receiving this goes above and beyond and hasn't stopped working since 9th grade...well BEFORE 9th grade...and at that point I knew it was me. He loves to tell the story of how when I was in 8th grade, he came to the Spring concert at the middle school and after only being there two minutes, this girl came up to him asking, "When does marching band start? Did I miss it? Can I join? When's the first day? What do I need to bring?" Yupp...that was me. :)

The second was the Matt B. Scholarship. The distributor chose to give $1000 to five people this year...and I was one of them. :)

And the third, was the Chaz H. Scholarship. The recipient has to play at least 3 instruments, be a positive role model, excellent work ethic, great grades, a leader...all these really great qualities that Chaz had (he was a member of the marching band...died in a car accident in 2008). Well, I got to hug Mr. O a third time that night...cause I was awarded that scholarship as well. :)

Mr. O (band director), myself, and Briana H. (Chaz's sister)

It was so unreal and overwhelming...after I was named as the recipient for the Chaz H. Scholarship, my mom came over (she was sitting at another table) and gave me a huge hug and told me how proud she was of me. And then of course we both start crying right in the middle of the banquet...haha.

Praise God for such a wonderful night and a phenomenal four years with the music department. :)

Thanks, God. :)

One of my very close friend's mom's was admitted into the hospital tonight due to severe chest pain. The doctors have been doing tests for a few hours and they think she might have had a stroke.

Please add her and the entire family to your prayer list...

God is Good

Last night at post prom when they were drawing the raffle tickets for the prizes, I was actually praying that I would win something. But not so much for me...for my mom. I've always known our finances aren't that great, but recently I found out just how bad things have gotten.

I put my tickets in to win a gift card to Best Buy (so I could buy my laptop for college and mom wouldn't have to worry about it) and a gift card to the mall (because I need to buy nicer clothes for my Career Study and didn't want her worrying about that either).

As they were pulling the raffles I just kept praying...God, I really need a miracle right now. I don't know if you consider my number being picked a miracle but that's kind of what it is to me and my family really needs it right now.

Well, I didn't win either of those. But God works in mysterious ways...instead, I won $50 cash from a random drawing.

The miracle continues...

This morning when mom came home from church, she told she had exciting news to share. She talked about how during worship one of the songs really affected her and she started crying. After service, one of her friends took her outside to the garden to talk, cause she could tell my mom needed it. When she had finished sharing about all the stresses of still dealing with grandma's death, school, taking care of the house, kids, and paying bills, her friend told her she needed to go to one of the church staff and let them know what was going on.

The church is now completely paying for two of our overdue bills.

God gave us two miracles. :)

God is so good,
God is so good,
God is so good,
He's so good to me!

He answers prayer,
He answers prayer,
He answers prayer,
He's so good to me!

The English Major in Me

Morning after prom all the prom pictures go up. I was looking through one of my friend's albums and saw a really goofy picture of her and another girl. In the comments section, she wrote, "you and me were SOOOOOO hot!" And then the other girl replied, "Oh yeah!!!!!!!!! ;)"
Okay, let's go through this piece by piece and explain how it is completely and utterly INCORRECT.

First of all, the 'y' in "you" is not capitalized.
Secondly, because the phrase "you and me" is subjective, it should be "you and I".
Third, there should be a comma after "you and me", which, as previously established, should be changed to "you and I".
Fourth, "were" should be "we're"--without the apostrophe the sentence meaning changes completely. Instead of "we ARE hot" in the present tense, she is praising that they "WERE hot", past tense...something I'm not sure they want to be celebrating.
Fifth, the caps lock and extended use of 'o' in "SOOOOOO" is not necessary.

Oh the joys of being an English major and feeling the need to correct a trivial comment on Facebook. :)

I have a corner in my classroom. :) I've been getting notes and pictures from kids and I put them up on the back board along with some drawings I've done in class and now I have my own little part of the room. :)

Career Study

My little sixth graders are awesome. :)

For Career Study, I decided to stay with Mrs. T teaching language arts at the middle school. My first three days have been AWESOME. I used to only be there from 1:00 to 2:30, so I got to know her 8th period class and her homeroom really well, but now since I'm there the entire day, I'm getting to know about 100 students. And I so do love getting to know people. :)

It's great too, cause Mrs. T and I have been working together ever since November, and so we've developed a really good tagteam approach to teaching and managing the class. For example, today the kids had a big test to take. When each class started, Mrs. T collected homework and while she was giving directions for the test, I graded and put the grades into the computer. Then I moved to the back table, where I worked on one of the activity drawing sheets Mrs. T had laid out for kids to do after they finished the test.

As they started handing tests in, I graded the multiple choice section and then passed them to Mrs. Thorpe and we worked on grading the essays together.

I don't know if that sounds like a lot of fun but it really was. :)

Words of Wisdom from Dr. Tim

You have to be persistent to be a leader.

Give up giving up.

90% of being a leader is attitude. 10% is skill.

The worst decision is no decision.

It is not fashionable to be positive.

DO leadership, don't talk about it.

You are measured by what you complete.

A leader does what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether they want to do it or not.

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're always correct.

If you don't think you can make a difference, you're crazy.

Tell the truth, but be sensitive.

You can't lead others until you lead yourself.

Several months ago, I was eating Chinese food for lunch with my mommy. Out of the blue, she asked me if I had ever wanted to do drum corps. I told her it had been a crazy fantasy dream but never something I had given serious thought to. This was how the rest of the conversation went:

Mom: "I think you can do it."
Me: "Well it's not a matter IF I could, but HOW...I don't play a brass instrument, and I'm not good enough for the drumline."
Mom: "What if you got lessons?"
Me: "For bass drum?"
Mom: "Yeah, you could get them over the summer and then try out."
Me: "You have to be INSANELY good to make it...like ridiculous. I don't think I could get to that level."
Mom: "Rachel, you have never tried to reach your full music potential. Every single one of your directors/teachers have come to me and said that you could make it in the professional world if you practiced and became committed to your instrument. And I've told every one of them that playing sax is more of a hobby for you and you're happy with the level you're at. But I want you push yourself. And I know that drum corps will do that for you. So if you're committed, I'll get you bass drum lessons."
Me: "But touring with a corps costs THOUSANDS of dollars..."
Mom: "I'll find a way to make it work. If I found a way to buy you a professional saxophone last summer, I can find a way for you to march."
Me: *the reality of what she's saying finally sinks in* "I could march drum corps..."
Mom: "Yes. You could march Bluecoats with David if you work hard enough."

The rest of the conversation was pretty much me freaking out saying how much I want to do it now that it's a reality.

I texted David right away, and after we talked for a bit, I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to get the private lessons for bass drum...I wanted to do mellophone. First off, getting into the drumline is nearly impossible (especially for a top corps) and they usually require at least one year marching a lower level corps. Well we don't have the money for that. And also, I've always wanted to learn a brass instrument...so here was my perfect opportunity.

I start mellophone lessons in two weeks. I will hopefully be working two jobs this summer in order to save money for Bluecoats and college. I will then be playing mellophone for Millersville's marching band in the fall (it's official, I confirmed it with the director).

If by Thanksgiving time of this year I'm ready, I will audition for Bluecoats. If I'm not ready, I will take another year to prepare and then audition.

I am going to do this.

DONE

I AM ALL DONE. *victory dance*

No more AP tests...

No more finals...

NO MORE HOMEWORK.

NO MORE HIGH SCHOOL. Instead, I get to spend the next four weeks at the middle school working with my 6th graders for the entire day. It's gonna be awesome. :)

Oh and I turned 18 today...and I'm starting mellophone lessons in two weeks...and my boyfriend's home (for a short time before he leaves for Bluecoats, but he's still home!)...and I'm getting my license next month...and and and I am SO happy!

Final(s) Week

It's almost over...incredible. This is my last week of school. Next Monday I start Career Study, which means I'll be spending all my school days over at East with my 6th grade Language Arts class that I've already been student teaching at the majority of the year. It's gonna be awesome. :)

But for now...I have to finish all my crazy last assignments and study my butt off.

Then it's my birthday, David comes home from college, we get less than a week together and once again he's off to Ohio for Bluecoats...but I'll be plenty occupied this summer, what with reading amazing literature, sorting through everything I'll need for college, and oh yeah...learning how to play a brass instrument.

Maybe I'll make a separate post explaining that...no time right now though. Gotta go study up! Charge!

"I'm a Christian, unless you're gay."

http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html/3/

I highly encourage you to read this article. All three pages worth. And really soak in the information. It's absolutely fantastic.

Here are some quotes (and my reflections) that really stood out to me:

I’ve heard the hate. I’ve heard the disgust. I’ve heard the disdain. I’ve heard the gossip. I’ve heard the distrust. I’ve heard the anger. I’ve heard it all, and I’ve heard it tucked and disguised neatly beneath a wrapper of self-righteousness and a blanket of “caring” or “religious” words. I’ve heard it more times than I care to number.

So have I. I think that's what makes this article really impactful, becuase I can relate to everything it talks about. I have those friends who are Christians and yet are still incredibly judgmental. I'M a Christian who is still incredibly judgmental. Not in terms of gay people though...my lack of kindness applies to those people who I see as being 'too different' compared to me. Maybe they're socially awkward, maybe they're disrespectful to others, maybe they're not as talented as I am. Whatever it is, I know there's certain people I look down on and brush aside in day-to-day life, not even thinking about trying to love them. Shame on me.

According to Christians, Jesus taught a couple of interesting things. First, “love one another.” Second, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

Whenever I get in a conversation with someone about homosexuals and religion (which happens more often than you may think), the first thing that I usually say is that God tells us to love each other. I also add in the fact that Jesus loved the tax collectors and the prostitutes, people who were on the very outs of society, just like the gays are today. The bit about casting the first stone really struck me though, and it made me realize how incredibly stupid it is for me to pick apart other people...

Complete honesty time: I am constantly tearing down others in my mind throughout the day in order to make myself feel better. Walking through the hallways, I usually figure out if the girl in front of me is skinnier or fatter than me and if she's bigger, I get a little smug smile on my face that I'm "better than her". During Indoor Percussion practice, when one of the bass drums can't get their part but I've had my music down for months, I roll my eyes and think about how much better I am. Sitting in class, I see someone whose shoes don't go perfectly with their outfit or their color combinations/textures aren't exactly right. I judge them and then look at myself approvingly.

I am such an idiot...here's me casting so many stones every day, when I should be the one getting pelted with rocks.

I know there are many here who believe that living a homosexual life is a sin. Okay. But, what does that have to do with love?

Exactly...what does that have to do with love? What do any of my judgments have to do with love?

In truth, having a religion doesn’t make a person love or not love others. It doesn’t make a person accept or not accept others. It doesn’t make a person befriend or not befriend others. No, what makes somebody love, accept, and befriend their fellow man is letting go of a need to be better than others.

I'm not gay.
I don't dress differently.
I don't act differently.
I'm not addicted to drugs.
I don't smoke.
I don't have an eating disorder.
I don't have non-traditional piercings.

But I struggle everyday with the need to be better than others.