Trip to the Salt Flats

So music majors? They’re crazy. Sometimes they wake up at 3 in the morning, get on a bus at 3:30, drive to the salt flats up north just so they can get an amazing video shoot during the sunrise. Yeah. Sometimes.

Excuse my phone pictures. I actually think they weren’t that bad.

Pre-video photos

Setting up for video

We’re so happy to be here!! (So tired…..)

Some post-video photos

The picture I shot from the violin section in-between shoots.

Life is beautiful.

Life Update

From last month to this month.... I almost have a different life. Here's what's happened:

NEW TOWN: I'm back in Provo! I was pleasantly surprised at how happy I was to be back here and attending BYU again. 

NEW YEAR: Thank the heavens I am no longer a Freshman! It would be impossible to express just how happy I am about this. No getting lost. No "you're a freshman, aren't you?" looks. No American Heritage.

NEW APARTMENT: I'm so thankful to live so close to campus. One of my least favorite parts of last year (as much as I loved Wyview) was living so far away. I'd either have to walk 40 minutes to get to campus, bike up that awful hill that I cursed daily, or face the trauma of finding a spot in a BYU student parking lot (which by the way is almost impossible).

NEW JOB: I found a job 2 days before school started! I am currently a custodian at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum. Most common response: "So it's like night at the museum?!" Um. No. Well kind of. Since the museum is currently under construction, animals such as cougars and wolves tend to be there one day and not the next day. So it's kind of like magic. Not really. Cleaning bathrooms doesn't really compare to being taken on adventures by Teddy Roosevelt. 

and announcing the biggest news of all...... 

NEW MAJOR! It was a crazy first week of school to say the least. Auditions for orchestra are always the first day of class. I went in there as confident and happy as I could possibly be because for once, this was an audition where there was no pressure to get a certain thing. I was just there to do what I love to do. Let me tell you, I've learned that confidence makes all the difference cause guess what happened? I got put in the Philharmonic (the premier orchestra at the Y) AND was offered a spot in the music program!! It's a LONG, hectic story that you might just want to hear in person. This is a journey I've been going through since my senior year of high school and I'm FINALLY where I know I'm supposed to be..... and that's in the music program at BYU. So there ya go. I am now officially a Music Education Major and honestly couldn't be happier. In love with life right now? You could say that.

Roommates

You hear a lot of things about roommates before you go to college that could easily freak you out into getting your own room or living with a family member. I was lucky enough to have 2 (sometimes 5 including the apartment next door and 1 more including Forrest) really fantastic roommates my first year at the Y. 

So my roommate Christine..... yeah I never saw her. For as fantastic as she was (is), I'm quite sure that I saw my home teachers more at my apartment than I saw her. Okay, lie. I saw her maybe once a week. And that once a week: man, we made some good memories. Anyway, I needed to blog about this priceless roommate moment that my journal could not do justice. Venice and I decided one day to put a dummy in her room... in her bed... you know... since she was never there.

Look how real it looked! (Er... once it was in her bed)

 The view from her door.

When she came home (some 5-10 days after we did it), she walked to her room, opened the door, immediately shut it, came out and said, "who is in my bed?" 

We all thought it was pretty great. Love you Christine!

My Favorite Practice Room

Oh the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU. Some people claim it’s Hogwarts, with it’s secret passageways that you seem to find only once and people waving their wands…. among other things.

At the beginning of the year I found myself practicing diligently in room E231 in the musical basement of the mysterious HFAC. There was a trapdoor on the ceiling with a sticky note that said, “more practice rooms through here.”

As I’ve continued to use this practice room, the notes have progressed. They’re speaking to us…

If you can’t read them they say:

“Extra practice rooms through here…”

“At Hogwarts!!”

“No, no, no. To Narnia!”

“For Aslan!”

“E231 3/4”

I LOVE BYU!

Once upon a December….

Dancing bears… painted wings… things I almost remember… and a song someone sings, once upon a December….

So what has happened this month?

Well….. we straightened the hair of a certain curly-haired boy…

We also had a Taco Party…

complete with guacamole….

juarritos…

dancing….

and of course tacos….

Then I got a visitor….

We went to the BYU-Oregon game….

and BYU won….  

We walked the grounds of Temple Square….

Then we started studying for finals….

This picture was not posed.

Christmas break…. please come sooner!

I’ve almost survived my first semester at BYU…. what?!

A Beautifully Clean Apartment

We had a cleaning check. It’s pretty :)

Living/Party/Roommate/Family Room

The Quote Wall

The Abstract Wall (Pillows – IKEA)

The kitchen never looks like this….

Where unusually funny things happen…. K that sounded dirty. Don’t fear.

What Are Men to Rocks and Mountains?

Have you ever seen the modern, LDS version of the film Pride and Prejudice? It takes place in, where else but, Provo, Utah and there’s a scene that the two roommates take a break from their men-hating lives and take a drive up the canyon to study.

Venice and I had the same idea this week and decided to take action and go see the leaves. Thankfully, it was before the freakish Utah weather decided to snow. We brought our books, games, and camera and had a wonderful time!

We obviously did a lot of studying….

Autumn leaves are probably one of my favorite things!

My most precious roommate and best friend.

She made an autumn bouquet to put in a vase and on our table.