On the Move

Well, I started packing up my dorm today. I am really excited to be moving on Thursday. I don't really have a lot to pack, but it will still be a good little project to keep me occupied until Thursday finally gets here. So far I have things put away that I won't be using between now and then. Like printer paper, pictures and other little decorative things that I managed to fit into my little dorm room. The keyboard came down too. Although, I really don't have anywhere to put it in the meantime. It is also a good thing that I know someone with connections to boxes. Lots of boxes. (Luckily I only need a couple though.) I have also had so many people offer to help me move. It is good to know that I will be taken care of if I ever need help. (Thanks everyone!)

It will be so nice to be out of the dorms and into a bigger and nicer place. Don't get me wrong though, the dorms are a good experience.. but it's an experience that does not need to be very long. I would recommend living in dorms to anyone, but only for a semester. Then get out. I really like my roommate, but the room is pretty small and my keyboard and several other instruments are just not fitting very well. AND I would like to get a guitar to add to my collection of instruments and that just won't work in a dorm room. I will miss seeing Maddy though. She is fun, super cute, and very funny. I got really lucky in having an awesome roommate. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the neighbors across the hall...up all hours of the night...with really loud music....playing soccer in the hall...breaking things all the time. Yeah. They are great guys..

Luckily for me, things have worked out really well though! I can hardly believe my luck. I will be living in a house, close to campus, in my own room, with lots of other great living benefits. And then some. I am really excited to have a kitchen. I have seriously missed that! It will be so nice! I will be able to bring some stuff from Roosevelt that I had to leave out of my dorm too. Like my giant picture of me playing volleyball. (Yep. Vain) I hope to hang up more pictures too. My dorm room is pretty boring..

It will be a really nice change and I am really looking forward to it. Thursday can not get here fast enough!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow. There are so many things I am thankful for. My family and parents being at the top of the list. They are so great! I have had a fun time being back in Roosevelt with them. This is only the second time I have come back to visit in the last four months so when I do visit, I get treated like a celebrity. That is just one of the perks though. I like that my dad made me breakfast this morning and I haven't had to do the dishes (yet). I am also thankful for my little siblings who actually miss me when I'm gone. Or at least are really good at pretending they missed me. It still makes me feel good.

I am also thankful for great friends who have helped me through a lot and have been such good examples to me. Both friends from high school and current friends in college. It is great knowing that there is always someone I can talk to and someone who will listen to me. No matter where I am.
I am thankful for my religion and my own testimony of its truthfulness. I find comfort in knowing that there is a plan in everything and that someone higher is helping to direct my life. It sure makes growing up and making decisions a lot less stressful.

Along with this, I am thankful for the trivial little things in life that just make it fun. I think I am one lucky girl and have a lot to be thankful for.

Intro to Ethics 101

In my "Into to Music Ed" class, we have been talking about different ethical decisions music teachers (or just teachers in general) have to make on a regular basis. Examples of these would be like, whether a teacher should make copies of music. Or.. if and/or how music with sacred text should be used. Things like Christmas music and other religious or holiday related music. Or.. other things like relationships between teacher and students; teachers texting and giving students their number, being on social networking sites and casual relationships..things like that.
One thing that really has bothered me, as a student, is when other students call their teacher by their first name. It is really different in a college setting, but that really bothered me in jr high and high school. I just don't think that letting a student call you (the teacher) by your first name encourages very much respect. Now, don't get me wrong, I had quite a few teachers whom I called by their first name because everyone in school did and had for years. Then again, there were some teachers that I just couldn't bring myself to call by their first name. It seemed too weird for me, and I think I respected them more, as my teacher, because of that. Even my volleyball coach asked us not to call her by her first name and I really respect her for her decision to address that and I do think it increased the respect she got from us as a team. From thinking on this, I have decided that when I am a teacher, I with do the same thing Coach Skewes (Stevens) did and ask my students to call me by a more official name than Brooke. It's just more respectful, especially in a classroom setting.
I also thought a lot about teachers and social networking sites, like Facebook. Now... I will admit any day, that I am addicted to Facebook. I am always on there. Fact. So for me, as I teacher, I would not be comfortable "friending" students on Facebook because I use it and am online all the time. For others, it may not be a big deal because they hardly use their Facebook accounts as it is. Me, myself and I, on the other hand, am on Facebook way too much for it to be okay to have students knowing everything that I post for my friends and family to see. Not okay with that.
Just some things that I (before now) had not taken into consideration but they are definitely issues that teachers have to worry about. Granted, not all of them turn into big issues, but why would I put my job on the line risking that? I also recognize that there are a lot of issues that I did not even mention, but that teachers constantly have to deal with. It will just be an intense learning process for me when I become a teacher.

Best Day Ever

Today, I got the chance to go to the Bountiful temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was awesome! I had never been to the Bountiful temple. I have drive past it once...years ago with my family. But I was really excited to go inside of it today. And it was really great! The inside is so pretty. I also love how quiet and peaceful it is. Before today, I have not had the chance to do baptisms for a while so that made the anticipation of it even better. The drive up the mountain added to that as well. It was so pretty! And I will admit...even the snow added to the whole picture of everything. Snow on the temple grounds was beautiful. It was just a great experience. It also helped that I had some very amazing and inspiring company with me for the day.

My Life's Playlist

Have you ever wondered what "the playlist of your life" would sound like? This week, my best friend and I switched iPods, so I've been constantly listening to music. (It also helps that I'm a music geek too, but no one's perfect.) So I've decided that if there were a few songs to describe me right now...these would be it.

1. Falling In, Lifehouse
2. Just the Way You Are, Bruno Mars
3. Half of My Heart, John Mayer
4. It's Not You, Halestorm
5. I'll Be, Edwin McCain
6. You're Still You, Josh Groban
7. Save the Last Dance For Me, Michael Buble
8. Come Back To Me, David Cook
9. Suppose To Be, Default
10. Time of My Life, David Cook
11. Forever, Fireflight
12. The Best is Yet to Come, Michael Buble

Now, granted, not all of these songs describe me perfectly at the moment..but they each are significant to me in some way. And I happen to think that they are all pretty good songs. A couple of them are recent discoveries and they are just that awesome. (Thank you Ben!)
Music is obviously important to me and is a big part of my life. I think that's why I relate events, circumstances and people to songs I know and/or like. (Refer to list.) Please someone tell me I am not alone in this thought process. But yes. If you are a good friend of mine or someone I have been acquainted with for a while now... chances are.. you have a song that reminds me of you.

Adventure PAC(ed) Weekend

Marching Band recruiting day = one big success.
It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun! I had a blast with it and I hope all of the high school participants did too. We definitely had a lot of high schoolers participating this year. Our marching band looked huge! If it could always be that size it would be so awesome!

Working with Ben Simmons was really great too. I've never had so many compliments in one week. He is a great example and really fun to work with. I had a great experience with this whole weekend and would do it again any day.
It was also great to see friends from high school and get to show off to them a little. Marching Band is so great. I'm a big fan. I would recommend it to anyone who can (or even can't) play an instrument. There is nothing else like it. Where else do you get to go to all the football games (plus travel for a few), play in gigs all over campus, get lots of free Utah gear, and have over 200 friends? Only in the Marching Band.

Another Late Night at David Gardner

After practicing tonight, I went to the clarinet recital of Woongshik Kwak. He is a Doctorate student in Instrumental Performance.Can I just say that it was basically amazing. I had my mind blown. But at the same time I was thinking about how much he would have to practice in order to sound and be as good as he is. It, in a way, renewed my determination to keep at it. I think that as long as I keep practicing daily and keep learning as much as I can that a sound like that (or at least somewhat close to) is achievable. There was just something about listening to that performance, being there in person, that made it more real to me.
Now, the songs he picked to perform were insane and super amazing. This is just part of one of the concertos he played.

I don't actually expect anyone to listen to the whole thing, because it's really long and this is only the first movement. Woongshick actually played all three movements. And he did that with three pieces. I even think that his sound on the clarinet was better than the one in this recording. Maybe because it was live, but I don't know. I just know that it was amazing and I really want that kind of sound when I play.  ....I have got a lot of work to do.

Voicing Thoughts

I have really come to like the voice study class I am taking. Most days we listen to different recordings of art songs or opera arias or something else like that. At first I wasn't really a fan..but the songs and styles have grown on me. For instance, I love Jackie Evancho!! This little girl is amazing.

So this is the kind of music I have been listening to lately. This and Anna Netrebko. She is a bigger opera singer  but I still really like the style. Nerd. I know.
But all of this vocal stuff I've been into has me really excited to sing my duet with Angela. Have you ever seen the movie, "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby? You know that songs the Haynes Sisters sing at the beginning of the show? Yeah :) That's the song that Angela and I are going to sing. Totally awesome. It's going to be so much fun. Now.... if only we can find the music for it....

Weekly Private Lessons

I don't know that I actually look forward to private lessons.. but they are really good for me and I learn a lot. This last week I was supposed to write down everything I did while practicing. What I practiced, how I practiced it, and why I did it that way. It helped to make me think about what I was doing, and Kathy (clarinet professor) said that my lesson today went really well and she can tell that writing everything down is helping me. So I felt pretty good about lessons this week. Of course, anything positive from Kathy makes me feel pretty good.
But here's the crazy thing, practicing actually helps! You can quote me on that too. Practice. For seriously. I have noticed my own improvement so much and it's all because I actually practice on a daily basis. And what's worse - I like practicing now. (You can quote me on that too.) So anyone who is learning to play an instrument, I strongly advise you to practice. All of my future music students will learn how to practice and how to practice efficiently. So anyone interested in music, start getting into practicing habits now. I promise they will help. (Mom, you should make sure Brynne reads this.) ;)

The only thing is that when I'm working with Kathy she will ask me a question like, "Oh this is by Schuman. Do you know what other composer is from this time period with a similar style?" and I'm left there thinking.....um.... no. She does that quite a lot to me. Like today, "Have you heard of the composer ________?" Me: .......no. "Have you heard the piece _________" Me: ....no. I basically feel like a musical idiot in situations like that. So I went to the Marriot Library and got a few books. One specifically on the clarinet, (it's called "The Clarinet") so that I can stop feeling so stupid all the time.

Saturday Snow Day

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Night at Angela's

I really miss having a kitchen. Luckily for me, Angela is a nice friend and let me use her kitchen the other night. So I made my favorite, Homemade Oreos!

• 2 Boxes of Cake Mix (one 'Devils Food Cake', one 'German Chocolate')
• 1 1/2 cups of Shortening
• 4 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Frosting:

• 1 8oz package of Cream Cheese
• 1 cube of Butter
• 1 tsp of Vanilla
• Enough Powered Sugar to make it good