Doing Nothing

Today was a little more productive then yesterday, not by much though. I managed to finish my note cards for religion, analyze my theory homework, turn in my recital programs, and start my english readying. Sadly out of all that I should have done a lot more but had a hard time motivating myself. 

Since I have been locked up in my dorm for the whole day today was pretty boring. All I have done is study, distract myself from studying, and went to lunch with my Big Brother (which was very much needed, I was about to go crazy if I stayed in this dorm any longer). So after lunch I attacked my studies, well tried to. Does anyone else have the hardest time doing a small amount of work after you have finished a lot? Apparently I have the hardest time changing pace, now that I am no longer super busy it takes so much longer to get anything done. But I am definitely slowly catching up on sleep! Even though today was boring the more I think about it the more I realize how much I am enjoying being super lazy. I know it is bad to be lazy, but I had forgotten how nice it is to sit in your dorm room with sweat pants on and hair pulled back with Bones on in the background (apparently I didn't learn my lesson from yesterday and still watched several episodes). Even though I was still studying it was relaxing, I was not uptight, I was not stressed about getting it done. My attitude was just 'I will finish when I finish' and that is soooooooooooooo unlike me. I am usually so uptight I drive myself crazy. Granted I probably should spend another one of my dead days or days before finals being this lazy but again (like yesterday) I don't regret it. I have spent so much of my year working, studying, and stressing it feels like I have earned this time off.

My advice during dead days: enjoy laziness (don't be too lazy) and also enjoy doing nothing. Doing nothing is a hard thing to come by this time of the year.

An Unproductive Day

Juries are done! Thank goodness! It could have gone better but there is nothing I can do about it now so I have decided not to worry about it anymore.

Besides completing my jury today has been a horribly unproductive day. I normally have this problem where I try to get too much in one day and become so productive I drive myself crazy. Now I know you are thinking how is that a problem, but you can ask many people (especially Grant) that I hate wasting time. Rarely will you ever see me without homework or something to do, because if I have a second of free time I would use it. Something has hit me these past few days (ESPECIALLY today) where I am enjoying not being productive! I am still getting things done, just not at my normal pace.

Once my jury was done I lost all motivation for the day, I figured I have worked so hard I deserved a break. I did not intend for my break to last as long as it has but I will blame that on watching Bones (thank you Big for getting me addicted to that). But you know what? I don't regret being so unproductive. I still got some studying done, but I have not been stressed at all today. Which says a lot about me considering I had a jury today. I am normally super high strung on days I have performances and especially after I finish playing. In high school I would just tear apart my performance driving anyone who would listen to me crazy. I am so proud that I was able to let it go and just have fun with my day.

I didn't realize how much I needed this day. From 5 until 10 I did no school work, no practicing, no worries. Instead it was painting my nails, looking through scrapbooks/pictures, and Bones! There is no need to continuously work. Where is the fun in that? I love being productive and getting things done, but the human body and mind can only take so much. Today was my day to reboot and I am ready to attack my notes again tomorrow! I got a pretty decent start today but I have learned my lesson: if I want to get things done do NOT turn on Bones. But I do not regret my unproductive day- everyone needs one.

Highlights of my Freshman Year

Today was my last day of classes for my freshman year. That is such a bitter/sweet thought. I have loved my freshman year and I have been so fortunate to have the best freshman year. Since I have only had this blog for a week it tells little about my freshman year and why it was so awesome so todays post is for the highlights of my freshman year (in no specific order).  

1.       Making it into the top concert band: That was my top goal at this university and I never expected it to come true. I was worried for the whole summer that I would not make it and had already begun to believe that I wouldn’t. I wanted it so badly but had so little confidence in myself. When I saw my name on the list for being in the wind symphony I didn’t believe it, I had to actually ask someone else where my name was because I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me.

2.       Carnegie Hall: The reason I wanted to be in the wind symphony so badly was because they were going to play in Carnegie Hall! A few hours after I found out I was in wind symphony it hit me- I WAS GOING TO PLAY IN CARNEGIE HALL! I know once it finally hit me I had the hardest time sleeping that night because I was so excited. And that was only around a week into my freshman year! I knew from that point that this year was going to be incredible.

3.       Rosebowl: I don’t even know how to describe this! I got to go to the Rosebowl!!! When I was an 8^th grader I missed marching in the Rosebowl parade with my high school band because I was a year too young. I was so upset, I had never wanted to go on a trip more. But on my first year in college I finally got my chance! Not only to march in the Rosebowl parade but to be there for the game and cheer on my university to a victory!

4.       Grant: He has been in my life since before my freshman year but I know I couldn’t have made it through without him. He continuously supported me, listened to me, and took me to church every Sunday!

5.       Marcellus mouthpiece: This is a super nerdy thing but I had bought a really nice mouthpiece off ebay that is normally a hundred dollars for $15. Yeah, that was exciting.

6.       Visits to UNT: I am blessed with some wonderful friends that let me stay at their dorm when I go and visit Grant. It has been so nice when I see them and get to catch up. Sarah and Denise you are awesome! I can’t thank you enough for putting up with me those random weekends.

7.       Big: I am a member of Tau Beta Sigma the honorary band sorority. Meeting my Big Sister, Audrey, for the first time has to be a highlight of my year! It is so funny to think that I had never spoken to her before I knew she was my Big. She has made such a huge influence on my life and is such a wonderful supporter. This semester has been stressful but she has always been there for me. The moment I found out she was my Big I knew this was going to be one of the best things that could happen to me in college but I didn’t realize how incredible it was going to be.

8.       Any moment with my Pink! family: I am in the greatest family ever. This year Audrey, Ashley, Kayla, Callie, and Julie have become a part of my life. Those girls never fail to make me smile. They encourage me to be my normal quirky self and still love me. I never would have expected a few months ago that I would have a group of girls that mean this much to me. These girls are amazing and any moment I spent with them was definitely a wonderful moment in my first college year.

9.       Route 66: For those who know this story you are probably surprised that I am putting this story, but I find it very funny now that it is over. I was headed back to school with Grant and a friend. We were in Oklahoma, middle of nowhere part of Route 66 then the car breaks down. So I decided to be productive when I was stuck on the side of the road, I practiced! I learned my minor scales on the side of Route 66, I say that is something worth remembering.

10.   Getting on the Today Show: When I was in New York to play in Carnegie Hall, my mother was determined that one of the mornings we try to be in the crowd on the today show. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning, it was freezing outside, and we waited around for hours but it was so worth it! I was directly between the anchors, literally right in between them when the cameras came out! It was so cool!

11.   Getting to know my sisters: The girls of Tau Beta Sigma have done so much for me. Out of all the wonderful things that have happened to me this year having these girls in my life is definitely one of the top things. Every single one of them have made such a big impact on me and encourage me to be a better person.

12.   Going to the march in the Superbowl: Yes, I got to march in the Superbowl, enough said.

13.   Marching Band: I loved marching band in high school, but college was such a different experience. I have been able to meet some wonderful people and go to most football games. I didn’t realize how much I loved marching band until I thought I wasn’t going to do it in college. Luckily I had to do it and I am so glad I did marching band definitely some of my greatest memories.

14.   Being a nerd: It is so nice being around other people who love music like I do. In high school many people didn’t understand my passion for it, but this year I have learned so much from other students who have the same passion I do.

15.   My first day at band camp: I clearly remember meeting Shelby that first day, her warm and welcoming spirit made me realize I made the right choice for college. I knew from that first day that this was the place I was meant to be.

There are so many other memories for this year, those are just 15 of the hundreds of reasons why I had the best freshman year! I would love to see someone else top it, because having a year as seamless as this one has been is absurd. But it did happen! God has blessed me beyond my imagination in such a short time frame that I am having such a hard time soaking it all in. Never did I think my freshman year would end up as it did. 

Russell Stover French Chocolate Mints

Today I finished my last lecture in Physics of Music and Sound! It feels so great to be done with a class that the Almighty never wanted me to take. How do I know the Almighty never wanted me to take it? Well let's just say I have never felt so defeated by a subject. AND I NEVER HAVE TO SIT THROUGH THAT LECTURE AGAIN!!

All I have to do now is survive the final for that class, I can make it! It is so nice to know I made it through. Now I am enjoying the moment of no physics ever again by eating Russell Stover French Chocolate Mints which are the best chocolates EVER! If you have never had them before you are missing out. These things are so good! I have been fond of these chocolates since I was really little. My mom and I would go out and run errands so we would happen to stop by Brookshires and get a candy bar (French Chocolate Mint). Sadly enough they no longer make it in the candy bar form but when it is a box of chocolates they never fail to make me happy.

Broken Keys on a Computer Keyboard

I have a keyboard that works!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

If you are a little confused my laptop has been going through this phase where it does not want to let me type any 'g' 'h' or use the backspace key. It makes typing papers take forever and replying to emails a real pain. I am now a dork and have a keyboard that plugs into my laptop but I don't care right now, all of the keys work and I was able to type two papers in less then an hour and a half!

It's funny to think that out of the many keys on a keyboard when just a few are messed up it seems to ruin the whole keyboard. It's a little like life (yes I am making another life analogy), when a few things go wrong I know I am guilty of thinking that everything is bad when in reality it is just those few dumb keys. The whole keyboard is not bad, I am rather fond of my laptop keyboard. Life is just so busy I can't take it in to get it fixed (I have already done it once, they failed on fixing it). If you can't fix the keys right away don't let them keep you down! Life can be crazy but when those few things in life seem to make you think everything is going wrong I personally need to stop and realize that my life is actually wonderful- those keys are not that important. Why should I let those few broken keys win? This keyboard isn't bad, just those few keys and all it needs is to be fixed- for me to bring more attention to it when I have the time. Not for me to pout and feel sorry for myself about the broken keys, but instead count the number of keys that work.

I am super tired so I have no idea if that analogy made any sense but this is coming from someone who is terribly sleep deprived and extremely excited to have a working keyboard. So currently I thought that was a pretty brilliant analogy, but I will probably have to end up changing my wording tomorrow when I am thinking straight or I will possibly leave it for your enjoyment to see how my mind works when I am really tired.

Dare to be Stupid

If you have ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding then you have an idea of what my family is like. We are “big and loud and everyone is in each other’s lives like all the time and we just sit there eating, eating, eating” and I LOVE it! The Easter scene in that movie is practically what my family acts like on Easter. Traditionally we all get together on Easter: my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. My family is insane, if you ever meet them you will understand me a lot better.

I am blessed to have my entire family live so close that we can get together for things like this for years and years now, the “Lee Family Easter Get Together” is very much a tradition I love. My mother always brings this super yummy cream cheese dip for strawberries, we eat a meal together, we talk, hunt Easter eggs, and do whatever we want! My family never fails to cheer me up whenever we spend time together.

My family is crazy and we all know it. Crazy in the way that we could totally have our own reality TV show. We all get along so well but just what occurs during these events when we are all together is so unique and funny. Conversations can go from chemical burns to lighting fires in the bathroom in a matter of seconds. And yes, apparently the bathroom was lit on fire (not while we were there) but apparently my cousin was not allowed to start fires outside…. so he started it in his bathroom. I wasn’t kidding when I said we could have our own reality TV show!

In My Big Fat Greek Wedding during the Easter scene they were dancing and we kind of did something similar. My uncle has an X-Box Kinect so we played dance central (which I won both times I played in Soulja Boy and Poker Face). We get so into it, we look like fools but we don’t care. We are family and having so much fun just being dorks together.

This family is also full of courage to be stupid. Sometimes that stupidity is what keeps us so strong. No one in my family is stupid (everyone in my family are some of the smartest people I know), but I have witnessed some of the dumbest things occur when I am with them. That makes it always interesting though, you never know what will occur. Our next family event that we were coming up with involves either a zip-line in the backyard, tractor tire bumper car things, or the human bubble (it can fit a human being in it and then they run around) and then being pushed down a hill. Yes it sounds so incredibly dumb, but so much fun! Everyone in my family is brave enough to say whatever is on their mind, even if it makes absolutely no sense. I have so much respect for that, for a group of people to be so comfortable around each other that you don’t have to worry about what you say they will love you unconditionally and if anything join in on the craziness.

To live life to the fullest you have to be brave to be a little stupid at times. Otherwise things just get boring. These moments with my family remind me why I started this blog: to cherish the little things. Every time my brother tried to dance to The Jerk, hearing my cousin talk about her atrocious hair dying experience, watching the candid video of my uncle singing, and any of the thousands of wonderful memories I have with them, I will remember those moments forever. God has blessed me so much to give me a family I am so close to and can just have so much fun with. I can dare to be stupid and enjoy the little things in life. 

Grant's 21st Birthday

Today was Grant's 21st birthday so I was lucky enough to spend the entire day with him. At 5 though was when I got to take him out and surprise him for his birthday unfortunately most of my plans fell through. I had plans to go to the movies unfortunately the one movie he even had a slight interest in was no longer in the theaters (the movie theaters website lied to me) and then we were going to go to the park and just play frisbee... then it started raining. So instead we went to thrift shops and explored all the junk American's can sell and lets just say it is a lot! For plans changing in a completely it was definitely worth it.

The most memorable time of the night though was when we went to go get ice cream at a small shop in downtown Denton. Grant was insisting that we eat it on the steps of the courthouse like we have every other time we have gotten ice cream there, except this time is was raining. We were sitting on the steps, getting rained on in downtown on the steps of a courthouse, in a huge thunderstorm, and all Grant could say at first is how all he needed at that point was a Delorean so it could complete the scene from Back to the Future. I had so much fun, I was uncomfortably wet and cold, but I could not have been happier.

A Hug

It had been three weeks since I have seen my boyfriend Grant. I know for a lot of people that is not very long. Normally we see each other once a week for church but these past few weekends we have both had something going on. Today we were reunited finally! He called me when he got close to campus and I dashed outside to meet him. The second I saw him he began running towards me and sweeped me off my feet into a giant hug. I needed that, so badly. To be wrapped in his arms for the first time in three weeks.

Not only did he come down but he picked me up to take me to Denton! But before we took off we meet up with my Big Sister. He actually arranged the whole thing, he had never met her before and he knew it meant a lot to me for him to meet her so he arranged the time and place. Getting to talk with two people who have made such a big difference in my life for nearly an hour about...just, well anything! It was wonderful.

I came to Denton because Grant's 21st birthday is tomorrow and he has to work on his birthday so I will just keep him company. He has seem to go out of his way to make it memorable for me. It has been a unique Good Friday for me, but I am not complaining. I will say I do miss my normal Good Friday schedule but when I was taken into Grant's arms as he ran towards me I forgot all about that! That hug made all the difference, that was what I needed. It is so wonderful how something like that can give the light on how perfect a day can unfold.

Perfectly Simple

I have decided that I will update this at night instead of the morning because it is a lot easier to write about the small things that happen once my day is almost done. So look for my updates then!

The highlight of my day probably occurred the moment I walked out of my last physics lab...EVER! I am not a physics person, not at all. If I could change something in my freshman year, that class would be the only thing I would get rid of (besides that I would like to think I had a perfect freshman year). As a music major do I really need physics? Granted it is physics of music and sound but while I am playing I am not going to calculate the frequency of a fourth space E. That is just not how I view music, it is not a science to me. I see music as an art, as an interpretation. I don't want someone telling me how to mathematically play music, so being rid of those horrible physics labs is definitely a blessing!

My day did not end there though! I got to practice for over an hour and a half, solid, no breaks! Most people hate practicing and I won't lie I am not a big fan of practicing either. But today when I was playing I was so focused, I knew what I needed to get done and I accomplished it. That was an awesome feeling, to leave the practice rooms feeling like I didn't waste a second of my time. I can only hope that whatever your major or career is can make you feel as great as it did for me when I was practicing. I know this is what I am meant to do because of that feeling.

After my practice session I came back up to my dorm, changed into sweatpants, and went to work on packing some things up to take home so I don't have to take it all back when school gets out in a few weeks. Packing is such a slow process for me. I continuously get distracted with whatever I am packing away because everything has a story behind it. I do not dislike packing for that reason: it brings back so many memories. I could go into detail about that now but I need something to write about when I unpack. To sum it up though I had a lot of fun packing, strange right?

Now I feel like I have had a full day: I finished physics, practiced like a crazy woman, and packed so I am currently watching A Beautiful Mind while eating chocolate. It is a simple day but I would venture to say that is a great day in anyones book!

What is a Nonchord tone?

To my other fellow music majors, musicians, friends, or whoever stumbles upon this you will soon realize that music is my life. I have been around music from the very beginning and I continue to make it my future. So naturally this ironic yet really nerdy title fits me.

A nonchord tone is defined as a tone that is not a member of the chord. So in simpler terms, it is the extra notes, the notes that don't matter a lot. They can still be a big part of the melody but in terms of the key signature or the chord at the time, it doesn't matter. This blog is in honor of those parts of my life. The nonchord tones in life are the little things that get looked over day to day. They do not define me, when I introduce myself I do not mention these parts of my life, but without these nonchord tones my life would just be, well, boring. The melody would have nothing since you could only stick to certain notes. I know everyone (especially me) is guilty of having pessimistic views at times, they can be an optimistic person but at times it's hard to look 'on the sunny side of life'. But everyday something good happens. You can't deny it. Even if it as simple as a cool breeze, the sound of rain, a smile, or even a text you get- something good happens in everyones life daily.

My freshman year is nearly over and I realize how guilty I am of 'wishing time away' when things got stressful or hard. Summer is almost here though and I have now realized how part of me doesn't want it to come because I don't feel like I appreciated every second I was blessed with. I have been blessed by having the BEST freshman year anyone could ever have and I don't want my next three years to be wished away. This blog is my attempt to write something daily on something that made my day, it will be simple at times because I know I will still have bad days but it is to show that very small things mean a lot.

I am sorry if you can't seem to understand my musical analogies but basically this blog will have little to no negative things posts if I stick to my goal. It will have no count downs. And it will be super corny! But that is who I am and something I need to work on, holding onto every second and loving it.

Now that I have explained myself I will start: granted it is only 10:25 in the morning my day has already started off with a smile because my wonderful boyfriend is trying to figure out what I am blogging about because all I told him "I am starting a blog". So I currently have texts, facebook messages, and calls from him wondering what it's about. It is so simple but quirky things like that really can put a smile on someones face and it shows that he cares what I seem to be thinking about.

Since it is so early in the day there is nothing else I can think of, but hopefully by the end of the day I will think of something else to add to this and then attempt to make this a daily thing.