First Day of Work

First day in Oklahoma and I am having a major ‘I miss Fort Worth’ attack. The people here are nice, but it is so weird coming here and knowing practically no one. This will be an interesting summer.

Positive notes….. well we got blue jello with Swedish fish in them, I thought that was kinda cute. Totally felt like a little kid eating it. Also I bought myself a cheap watch for this job. It is an obnoxiously bright pink which makes me very happy (except it beeps on the hour which is really really annoying). Another little thing that made me smile was I have a ton of pictures saved on my computer. I just finished flipping through them and I smiled more during that then I probably did for most of the day. I know I will have fun this summer, I just need to get warmed up and ‘in the groove’ of everything. I have so many pictures on here and I will probably post this a lot later because I can’t get my internet to work at all (and a little scared to connect to some random guys unsecured network) but I would like to share a few pictures- mainly because I am bored out of my mind but secondly because they make me happy.

 The main reason I miss Fort Worth these wonderful people right here- the Pink! family

 My Bigs!!!!!

 This picture is just silly and makes me smile every time J

 Pink! family had to go on twice because I love them so much!

 My life would be so incomplete without my Lucky Charms now. We have been through so much together and I am so excited for the times to come with these sisters.

 Right in between Ann Curry and the other guy (I don’t remember his name). Enough said.

 Grant and I after our three year anniversary. We are in the same attire that we wore three years ago. He is here at camp with me! That is the main reason I know I can stick out such a strange job for me is I have him here with me.

Last Day of Summer

I will post a real blog post soon but I really need to go to sleep since I am now wrapping up my last day of summer. I start my summer job tomorrow morning in Oklahoma. So I am saying goodbye to the Lone Star State for a bit. I will hopefully have internet connection at camp so I will update this when I can (no promises).

Nonchord tone for the day- late night Walmart runs.... you never know what kind of trouble you can cause!

Kayaking

So today Grant surprised me with a trip to the lake and he taught me to kayak. It was so much fun and so relaxing to be out on the lake. I am not bad at it either (for the first time to kayak). As we were pulling the kayaks out of the water my dumb crocs got stuck in the mud. I am extremely sorry if you are a fan of crocs but I hate those shoes and am disappointed I even own a pair (long story). It was hysterical though, I couldn't walk because there was so much mud in my shoes. Loved it! I looked like a total dork because I kept slipping in my own shoes.

A New World of Crafting

My birthday is around a month away but I will be gone at work, so my mother took me shopping for my birthday present. I got a Cricut! I am way too excited and I still can't get it to work yet. But that doesn't matter right now. I HAVE A CRICUT!

After shopping with my mother we went and got lunch with her at P.F. Changs. That was sooooo good! I have not had decent Americanized Chinese food in a long time (we even got free orange chicken!). Basically everything was good about today and I could go on forever but I really need to get a normal sleep schedule before summer camp.

The Contract

I have always believed my family to be strange, odd, and a little enthusiastic but today I have come to terms that my family my not be that unique in that sense or Grant's family is the same way.

I went over to Grant's house for dinner tonight and somehow managed to make it right when his youngest two sisters were talking about cracking eggs on each other's heads. The older of the two eventually exclaimed "I will give you $100 to crack three eggs on your head!" Soon she was talked down to two eggs on the foot. This is not the amusing part though. It was the writing of th contract.

The younger of the two wrote out a very detail, very long contract saying along the lines of 'two eggs on the foot, not the leg, knee, or any other HUMAN body part, had to be out of their dad's fridge, the eggs had to crack." It was 98% loophole free. Each girl was bringing in lawyers (aka Grant and their dad), the contract was signed and then had to be given to a mutual party. I learned more about law in contracts then I ever did in my Criminal Justice class (which we did study court). It was hysterical- the dramatic writing of a contract.

Well just to tell you how it ended- the only loophole was that AN egg (not both) had to crack on her foot, both had to crack but not on her foot.... So you can imagine how that ended up. I am pretty sure they are setting up a full court system right now but I am not positive. It was great though to see them get so into it, totally made my day! Whenever my brother and I have a disagreement we never right up a contract, but that is an idea and I might have to try it sometime.

Flashbacks

Well I don't have a lot to say today but I guess what was a good part about my life or something I thought was interesting was the many flashbacks I have had today. Everyone has part of their life that was hard. Today I had many of those memories come swarming back at me and it makes me proud. Proud to know I have come out of that part of my life so much stronger and so much happier. I may have hated that time in my life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything because it has helped turn me into a better person.

It's the End of the World!

Not really, but I thought that should be documented. So sorry geniuses, you will never be able to predict the end of the world. But the poor human being that thought today was the end never did read the full Bible particularly Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." So sorry geniuses, you will never be able to predict the end of the world.

That is my small musing of that but today what was special to me was today was my mom's annual piano recital. My mom teaches piano and taught me for twelve years. This is the first year that I didn't play- I kinda enjoyed it. I always loved playing piano but I needed a break, a good long break. So for a change I got to sit in the audience and listen to everyone play. The best part was when I got to see my old piano students perform. I had 7 old piano students and 5 went on to take from my mother so I got to hear them play. I am so proud of them and miss teaching them so much. They helped me find what I want to do with my life- teach music privately to kids. They were the highlights of my weeks and just a joy to teach. I am meant to be a teacher, I might not be great at piano but I miss teaching piano so much. And a little cockiness in me wants to say I was good at it, I was a pretty good student teacher, but it helped with having perfect students.

Another part of the recital that meant a lot to me was hearing my mom play a piece she arranged for my grandfather. He has always loved Down Yonder so she arranged it as a piano duet and played it with my brother. I will probably do a full blog post on this another day because I have had an allergy headache all day and I finally took some benadryl. The headache is gone but I am getting really loopy and it is very difficult to type and I am about 2 minutes away from not making any sense at all.

"The world can't end today- it's already tomorrow in Australia."

Home for a Bit

Finally home from Kansas, it was a great trip but it is nice to be home for a bit. It was a fun car ride and we made it back in good time.

My internet is being dumb so this will be a fairly quick one but what I want to talk about in this post was when I got to talk to my brother. I have a younger brother and we have this relationship that we can never admit to one another that we like each other but we get along really well. Today we were talking about some teachers he has and just the goofy things that go one at middle school. He is in 8th grade and has to do a project that I did when I was in 8th grade (he has to pretend he is a Jew, get Visas from other teachers, and get out of the country). So we were telling stories about that project and that teacher. I really enjoyed that. I don't talk to my brother a lot but I have a lot of respect for the person I see him becoming. He claims he doesn't miss me at school, but that's really hard to believe when I get a phone call from him asking how to do that project and then he asks what classes he should take and if the teachers are any good. We continued to talk about ways he could annoy the percussion director at the middle school and come up with pranks. I must be such a wonderful influence on him.

Farkle

As I mentioned yesterday I have had a break through. Grant has been cheating at Farkle and I can prove it! Hopefully he will not read this until he takes me home to Texas or this could be a long car ride home for me back to Texas but I am too proud not to share right now.

Farkle is a game with six dice and has a bunch of rules and is really hard to explain without getting confused. But my point through this is it is a dice game, a game of CHANCE. So there is no way he should be beating me in this game by over 5,000 points. I made the prediction he is cheating, I cannot prove how (I believe it is his set of dice) but something is fishy.

His grandmother and I taunted him the entire time about how he is possibly cheating. Together we came up with ways to test our hypothesis:

First day of Farkle, we played with her different sets of dice: I had the blue, Grant had the black, and she had the green. I won that game and Grant claims it was because he was not using his set of dice.

The next day he thought he played with his set of dice when actually we swapped the dice from a different Farkle set in his container. He lost yet again!

Yesterday we swapped the dice back (he still doesn't know we did this) and he managed to kill us! The first time on this trip he actually used his dice and he didn't know it. I find this weird. I do not actually believe that the love of my life would actually cheat but it's the little things- his grandmother and I coming up with these elaborate plans to find out why he is winning at Farkle, is what made today so wonderful. Sorry Grant for calling you a cheater, but now that you know we swapped the dice you have to admit it looks a little suspicious.

Spoiled

Today was momentous because I believe I have officially proven that Grant cheats at Farkle! If you have never played it is a dice game that is basically ALL chance but he manages to win every time (if we use his dice). I would love to type about this more but I am going to test my theory once more tomorrow before I draw my conclusion.

Along with me (hopefully) finally proving that Grant is cheating at this game everything else that has happened today has been very similar to the rest of this trip. I have been spoiled more then I deserve and more.

I was super excited today because I got to see my G-Big, Ashley! Even though the weather was gross we still toured Fort Scott, got lunch, and looked through several thrift shops in the downtown area. I have missed her so much and it really worked out well that I came up here with Grant so I could see her again. Getting to see her totally made my day but there was still plenty of other things I am extremely thankful for today.

At dinner with Grant and his grandparents we talked for the longest time about some of the strangest things. I don't know why it sticks out to me right now so I feel like I need to write about it. But some how the conversations went from unresolved fifth chords (one of my BIGGEST pet peeves), to strange psychic abilities, hospital trips, and building airplanes in the backyard. It was so funny as we would just tease each other about some of those things (aka Grant and his grandfather would tease his grandmother and I about how we believe that fifth chords should be resolved-which the should be!) It was so much fun and I really enjoyed myself.

So yeah, I am being spoiled beyond belief right now and once I have to leave this vacation I am going to have little time to adapt from this to my soon work life. I am enjoying every second of this and shall not complain, I am so blessed.

Oh What A Beautiful Day....

I've got a beautiful feeling! Everything's going my way!

My mother would come in my room daily when I was younger singing that to get me out of bed in the mornings. Well today I can finally say "Mom I have seen Oklahoma!" Even though I have known the songs for years and years it was one of the few musicals I hadn't seen yet. Grant's grandmother found out that I hadn't seen Oklahoma or Carousal so she went out and rented both. So for the next few weeks I will probably be singing melodies from both.

I have had "a beautiful day" though, with watching Oklahoma and Carousal I have had fun spending the day with Grant and his grandparents. I feel so spoiled though: we went to the homemade waffles for breakfast, Mall Deli for lunch, then musicals, and then homemade ice cream on the back porch. It is so nice to be here, it is so relaxing. Soon my summer job will begin which will take up my entire summer and no longer will I be able to do a lot. Being here is exactly what I need before I go to work. I can not thank Grant and his grandparents enough for letting me come, I am having a blast!

Adventure to Kansas

I again have failed at updated my blog daily. I was up late last night, had already packed away my laptop to be shipped to HP (again), and then my brother was on the computer doing Spanish homework. Hopefully that doesn't count as a total fail to trying to update everyday but I think it was a decent excuse so it makes me feel better.

Today Grant and I went up to Kansas to a place he likes to call "Camp Grandma" (aka visiting his grandparents). It was a long drive up here but so much fun. We drove on Route 66 (AND DIDN'T GET STUCK!!!!), stopped at a neat cafe, and even stopped at a 'ghost town'. There was probably more to the trip but I am tired and having a hard time putting together sentences right now but basically I had a blast just getting here.

Then Grant's cousins came over. It was so different compared to my family. There was still craziness but a very different kind of craziness. His cousins were quite a bit younger, and the one that was around 4 stuck to me like glue. She was adorable but I was allowed to do nothing else. We colored, played hide and seek, played doctor, and whatever this 4 year old could come up with. I was going to put some quotes from her but sadly I can't remember them right now so I might just post them tomorrow.

Officially Summer

Grant finally came back from UNT! Finally! I was about to go crazy, I can find only so much to do without having someone to talk to all the time. So my insanity of boredom will hopefully go away for now. Super short blog post but I am tired and have a lot on my mind.

Seeing What I Left Behind

My internet has been acting up all day so hopefully I can get this posted today. But today was so much fun.

I have been the newbie all year at school so today I visited my old high school. I might have only been gone one year but when I went back for the morning I felt so old. It was so neat going back. I never really thought that people would remember me. I just figured when I would graduate from high school I would just be forgotten instantly. The moment I walked into the band hall, I heard my name called out by at least 5 people who all ran up and gave me a hug. So many people I didn't know I had impacted were so excited to see me, I had honestly thought they didn't care. Not that they didn't care about me, I know they care about me, I just never believe they cared so much to jump out of there chairs and dash towards me. It's an awesome feeling because I really do believe I have left a legacy at that high school. I was never outgoing or really dramatic. All I did was band, I was passionate about it and my goal was to make it the best experience for others. I guess I did a decent job. It was so nice to see everyone and they definitely proved to me that I will not be forgotten.

My aunt is a teacher at my old high school so I then went to her class room and got to talk to her for several hours. It was so fun to talk to her and to see her working at school. She had subbed for several of my classes my junior year at high school but then she got a job else where my senior year. I have always thought she would be an amazing teacher and loved the days she subbed for my classes so I was very excited the day I found out she would be working at my old high school.

When she was on her lunch break I then tried to find some of the teachers that had made the biggest difference in my life while I was there. I first went to find my junior/senior year English teacher but sadly she wasn't there and had a substitute teacher. Anyone who had Mrs. Creelman would agree with me by saying that she was one of the most caring, personal teachers you could ever have. I learned so much from her and has made college English really boring. Mrs. Creelman made us want to learn, she never forced us to learn. She always left it up to our interpretation so we had to go find the answers. Our projects were always so open ended that we actually had to think and put time into them, but because there were so few rules we always ended up with a product that we were very proud of.

I then stopped by the College and Career Center were I was an office aid my senior year. That was such a great deal for me, especially my senior year. My senior year of high school I was deciding between ten schools and I knew what was going to decided for me- money. Working there they gave me so much advice on how to finance for college and they gave me so much support as I was going through those stressful college applications and auditions.

The last teacher I was able to stop by was another one of the few teachers I say impacted me in high school. Mrs. Terry was my World History teacher my sophomore year and I had never seen a teacher so unique but made listening to her lectures the best part of my day. I still remember most of her lectures today because she did such a great job. She had a wonderful sense of humor and my class has so many inside jokes. I would love to write some out here but they wouldn't be as nearly as funny compared to being there three years ago but I will just leave it at she was a interesting character. My cousin is taking World History this year but she didn't end up having Mrs. Terry. I had talked to her and she wasn't doing well so I recommended going to Mrs. Terry's tutoring and my cousin says that helped her so much. That says a lot about a teacher when she will tutor students that aren't hers- without question, she just knew someone was asking for help.

That was all I had time for but if I had the time I would have loved to see my old AP Psychology teacher Mrs. Bost. If something happened to me music wise I would be a psychology major because of this teacher. I had never found a subject that had fascinated me like that (besides music). Her personality reminded me a lot of Mrs. Terry's (she is the one who recommended me to take AP Psychology) so I suppose that helped a lot.

Between the band directors, my friends, Grant, and my teachers (especially those three) when I went to visit the high school I have realized how far I had come since first setting foot on that campus. I don't mean this to sound cocky or full of myself but I am honestly proud of how far I have come. I know I still have a long way to go and three more years left in college, but considering how I started as a freshman in high school I am very proud of how I have matured and all I have accomplished in this short time. If you would have told me even a year ago that I would have the experiences I have had this year I would have honestly thought you were crazy. But it was so possible, it takes hard work and some amazing friends for support.

I am proud that I seem to have left behind a legacy they are keeping alive. I am proud that I was/still am a good influence and they don't mind me visiting. I didn't ever realize how many people looked up to me until I went back to that school for the first time.

Spontaneous Trip to Denton

I believe blogger is being stupid and not letting me update my blog/deleted my old posts so that is rather depressing and then my internet just went down. So sorry this post is coming out so late but here it goes.

Thanks to my wonderful friend Kelleigh I was able to go to Denton for the day to see Grant. He was working most of the day but just getting to see him made it worth it. He was working desk, couldn't leave the building but I didn't care! I was able to talk with him and meet a lot of his friends. Then I even ran into some old friends. It was so nice and so simple. I stood at a front desk, eating pizza, and enjoying watching Grant telling students how to clean there rooms. Another one of the RAs and I amused ourselves by drawing on his binder. I felt like an immature high schooler again. I love the fact that I normally am a fairly mature person (at least I like to think I am) but it is always fun to be immature every once in a while.

After that and I went home my family was watching The Mentalist. I hope not to offend anyone but I do not care for that show. I feel it is just a rip off of Monk. And of course this show was about a murdered musician. I did appreciate a quote when he was suspecting another musician as the killer: "I am looking for the killer...You have all spent your teen years obsessing on little things and practicing scales compared to a social life. A noble pursuit. But as a result it makes you a little nutty." My family and I appreciated that, but then it just became insulting how they made musicians look. If you are going to have an actor pretend to be a musician, PLEASE study it. It just becomes insulting after a certain point and no longer funny. It was enjoyable though to see my parents expression on there faces while watching it, maybe they will finally believe me that Monk is a better show!

Summer...

Yup, it is definitely summer now. I am so bored, I really should go to bed, but I don't want to. I am so used to staying up this late because I have to. Now I have no reason to. I need a project!

Today I got to spend some quality time with my mother though. Well we cleaned out the laundry room and the shed but we still talked. I have really missed my mother while I was at school. It is so easy to talk to her. Anything that had been bothering me lately she knew exactly what to say to help me calm down and just let God take care of it. She posts note cards on my bathroom mirror with Bible verses on them and they definitely help keep me going. I am so blessed to have a mother that listens and even though we can drive each other crazy at times I would be so lost without her. Then we watched a movie together and continued to talk about whatever was bothering us, getting to talk to my mom was the best part of my day, I have really missed talking to her like that.

And now since I am bored out of my mind I guess I should go to bed instead of staring at my computer praying for something to do.

Friends to the Rescue

Today started off wonderfully! I slept in and once I woke up I made myself breakfast. I call it Death by Pancakes. It was two pancakes with chocolate chips in-between them then whip topping, pecans, coconut, and more chocolate chips on top. I probably consumed my entire days worth of calories in that one sitting but it was so worth it!

Later in the day I met up with one of my oldest friends from grade school, Reina. We talked for hours and hours about school, old high school things, band, and anything else that seemed to come to our minds. I hadn't talked to her in ages so we basically filled each other in on our lives for the past year. Reina has always been a good friend to me, since the very beginning. In third grade was when we became friends, granted we drove each other crazy, we eventually became close friends. We had so much to fill each other in on, I had never gone so long without talking to her so this time with her was much needed.

After we had talked for around 5 hours we decided to watch a movie. Eventually we settled on The Illusionist which she had never seen before. It is such a cool movie! I can't say a lot about it without giving away the movie, but you just have to watch it. It seems a little boring at first but the end is what makes it so brilliant!

I truly believed that these first few days of my summer break were going to be incredibly boring because Grant is still stuck in school and my parents are working. But Reina and Hannah have definitely come to my rescue! They are such amazing people and I am so fortunate to have them in my life.

Old Friends and Disney

So for my first full day at home I have done practically nothing! I really miss at school being able to spontaneously go hang out with people. No matter where you go, if you are bored you are able to run into someone. Now that I am home you actually have to hunt people out. Luckily I am not the only college student suffering from this. My friend Hannah from high school seems to be suffering from this disorder also so we had a spontaneous dinner plus watching of Tangled date! It was lovely! We talked about our years, crazy professors, how adorable the movie is, and just whatever else came to mind. I have really missed seeing her around, we were always buddies in the clarinet section at high school and she was such a wonderful support when I was section leader. Without her constant support and willingness to follow my leadership, I am not sure if the rest of the clarinet section would have listened to me. But she was always so enthusiastic about listening to me when I had to do sectionals or give orders to the section. I really appreciated that and she has always been such a wonderful friend.

We were originally going to just go out for coffee but then I found out that she had never seen Tangled!!! If you are reading this and have never seen it, stop reading this and go rent it! It is such a cute, sappy, corny movie that will just make you happy. It is so Disney, but you can NEVER grow out of that. You can never be too old for a cheesy Disney film! For the most part they have the same(ish) cute plots but for Tangled, it is adorable. My favorite part of the film (yes I am about to talk about the film so I meant it when I said stop reading this and watch the movie if you haven't) is when she finally runs away from home and is having this emotional war with herself. Everyone has gone through that torment, when they rebel against their parents (even if it is smaller than running away from home). I know I have, I will be so enthusiastic and excited then very quickly drop to feeling like a horrible person. Even if it is a very small rebellion it is so funny how emotions can change so quickly. Did Disney capture it perfectly or what! And in general it just makes you happy, I don't really know how else to describe the movie. But it just makes you smile.

Disney plus getting to see Hannah equals a much better day then I expected my first day back! I was expecting boredom and unpacking. This was so much better!

Home Sweet Home

I am back home! And just in time to see my mother for Mother's Day! I have such a wonderful mother and for Mother's Day we got her Secondhand Lions (because the copy we already has was mine and I kept it with me). So of course we had to watch it, I love that movie. It is so funny and sweet! Every time I watch it I think of the time I saw it for the first time. I saw it with Grant, Sarah, and Stewart and throughout the entire movie Grant and Stewart were plotting that they were going to be those old men shooting at fish and fighting teenagers when they are old.

What I was extra excited about today was I got a home-cooked meal! The cafeteria at school isn't horrible, it's just not home cooked. It is very much 'cafeteria food' so today when my dad made grilled salmon, rice, and sauteed carrots, broccoli, and onions. It was so good. I have really missed real food.

I would love to make this post longer but I now have to unpack because I currently cannot enter my room. I did not remember taking that much stuff to school.

Graduates of 2011

Today is my last post from this dreaded dorm room! I love college but I will say, don't like the dorm I am living in. I am all packed and ready to go back home!

It was also graduation day. Even though I was not one of the ones getting to put on a cap and gown, I attended both services. I could tell you that I wanted to go (which I did) but the main reason was commencement band and I got paid to go. It was nice though, I would have done that for free. Many of those people who walked the stage today have impacted my life in just one year. Watching them graduate was special for me. Everyone that has mentored me and listened to me that walked the stage today I will miss terribly! But I know it is time for them to move on and impact someone else's life.

I would love to list off all the graduates that mean so much to me but frankly I don't have a lot of time and need to wake up early to dust and vacuum my dorm before church. So I will just recognize two.

Kayla, my 'aunt'. She has done so much for me and has been there for me when I was stressed, upset, and can always make me laugh. In marching band she always made sure that I fit in and is always herself. I know that sounds like such a silly thing to mention, but too many people are not themselves by trying to blend into the crowd. She cares about everything and everyone, rarely putting herself first. Thank goodness she will be here next year for graduate school!

The other graduate I want to mention that has done so much for me is my GBig Ashley. In my book she has accomplished more than anyone else I know. She double majored in the honors college and the way she presents herself I have so much respect for. In a very selfish way I am envious of all she has done because I know I could never accomplish everything she has done, but I look up to her so that I know that no matter how high I set a goal it can be accomplished. Unfortunately she will not be here next year, some where else the need her wonderful personality. I will miss her greatly but I know where ever she is she will accomplish amazing things. She has taught me to never give up, hard work always pays off, and just like Kayla- always be yourself.

In high school I could tell a lot of friends were never true to themselves. I tried to avoid it but I know it was hard for me to be 'me'. Thanks to Kayla, Ashley, and many other graduates have made this year wonderful. I have found 'me' and I pray that for the next three years I can impact others as much as the graduates of 2011 have impacted me.

The Awkward HP Guy

Well I failed at updating this on yesterday :( I was so distracted packing that by the time it got around to two in the morning I forgot.

Today was mostly packing and I am proud to say it is practically done even though I am not leaving until Sunday. I also managed to pack everything except the few things I didn't have the heart to pack up. My two bulletin boards with the notes I keep on them and four picture frames. It just feels like if I pack them away and have to stay in this dorm it's like forgetting everything that has happened this year. Those notes and pictures are some represent some of the best memories I have had this year and if I have to sleep in this tiny, white-walled dorm I need something out that is going to make me smile.

The other thing that I did today was call HP (again) about my laptop keyboard and goodness, the guy I talked to was the most awkward guy I have EVER talked to. Granted that might be a strategy they have so I didn't yell at them for not fixing my laptop the first time. But when he is telling me that he didn't want to put me on hold because he hates the music and wants to use it torment his daughter so she will clean her room. Currently though he uses his "Back in the day" stories to punish her, then he went on to tell me that he was worried that child protective services might think he was torturing her by telling her those stories. I believe he went on to tell me some stories, but I was biting my tongues so hard from saying some snide remark. How do you respond to those stories? Then he went on to tell me that he was filling out the forms for them to get a full inspection (it didn't before!?!?!) and how he didn't care that the people who were inspecting it were going to hate him. Ummm... thanks? Isn't that your JOB? Yeah, I had no idea how to get respond to anything this guy said. But hopefully since he seemed to not care how much the inspection people hated him my laptop might actually get fixed.

Scrapbook

I love my family! They are so great. I talked for almost two hours with them on skype today. I know I will see them in a couple days but seeing getting to hear from them today was wonderful. Exams days are so slow, no one is around, and nothing is going on. Getting to talk to them was great. I got to ramble on about everything that was going on in my life, I am not sure if they understood it or not, but they listened and still had me smiling.

I also shall never get my packing done. I picked up the a scrapbook for TBS today (that was made for 2010-2011) and even though I have seen it before I can't stop flipping through the pages. Besides music the only other hobby that I have that has stuck with me for years is scrapbooking. As I have mentioned before I love pictures and picture frames so it makes sense that I scrapbook. A scrapbook captures more then a picture though, it allows you to put an 'essence' to it (I know this is SUPER cheesy but I can't find a better way to word this). Looking through this scrapbook I feel it represents every single part of TBS, it captures who we are as a group. Hopefully I will soon feel like I have memorized the book so I can put it down and finish packing away things (which is horribly depressing).

My Last Words to Physics

Dear the world who reads this blog,

PHYSICS OF MUSIC AND SOUND IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to thank everyone for putting up with me during this time in my life. I am NOT a physics person, by any means. It is like another language for me that I cannot learn. I tried in high school, I have now tried in college, I just need to accept that it is never meant to be.

I have great respect for those who can understand physics like my grandfather. I am not sure how he does it, but he knows physics. Never will I, Meridith, change the world through physics. No one can say I didn't try either. I have survived AP Physics and now Physics of Music and Sound. I have tried, I have put in my effort, and I am proud to say I have finished physics.

I do not believe is was a strong win over physics because I will never take anything like it again. In high school I told myself once I finished AP Physics I would never put myself through that torture again. Well I was weak and stupid this year. I broke that promise and signed up for physics. Now that it is over I am making this promise to all of you- I WILL NEVER TAKE PHYSICS AGAIN! Please hold me to that, I do not want to forget how awful I am at this.

I would love to blame the professors on my unsuccessful record in physics and as much as I want to I will have to blame myself. I do not believe I had the best professors, but this is two separate physics classes that I was terrible at. I didn't fail either of them, I just hated it. NEVER LET ME PUT MYSELF THROUGH THIS AGAIN!

This will be my last complaint about physics. This will never be a subject matter again for this blog. I am saying goodbye forever to physics! I would love to type more complaints, but I feel that would just be redundant and just plain unnecessary. But please my only request: NEVER I mean NEVER let me take physics again, that is not how I am going to change the world.

Sincerely

Meridith

A Picture

Studying.... all day. I just have to keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end. And it really isn't that bad, I just have so many more things in my life I would rather do then study physics.

I also need to start packing. I am avoiding this process at all cost though because I know the first thing that I will probably have to pack away, my picture frames. This will most likely not be my only post on picture frames because picture make me happy. I have 13 pictures either framed or laid out on my desk so I can see them and then another 8 on my wall. I just don't have the heart to take them down. If I take those down it is no longer home for me. A single picture can capture so many emotions, they can capture your happiest moments, they can also capture things you want to remember about yourself. One picture that I have on my wall is a picture of a clarinetist that I was in band with in high school named Brian. I have never met anyone like him. I was a senior when I met him and he was a freshman but he taught me more then I could have ever taught him. I might have taught him about music and band but he taught me something much more valuable: how to cherish every moment.

A little background for those who are extremely confused Brian has muscular dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. That wheelchair did not stop him from being in marching band though. He had an electric wheelchair so he moved himself, he was not going to be pushed. Brian would call out counts, play with his free hand, and show up on the field at 7 in the morning with a bigger smile then anyone else there. I was so honored to be his section leader. He taught me so much by getting to march next to him during halftime and sit with him at football games. Brian is such an inspiration- he never lets anything get in his way and he has the best character!

The picture I have on the wall is from when I went to a football game after I graduated. It has several of the other clarinetists, Brian and then me. Even though I was a graduate he was still excited to see me and asked me about school, what was knew, and how I was. I didn't know I made an influence on him, all I knew was he influenced me. Every time I look up at that picture I remember how I need to strive to have a positive attitude in everything. If Brian doesn't give excuses I really don't have one. Even though I am not at my high school anymore I know he is impacting so many people. It is hard not to be amazed with him.

I know this post was super random but that picture makes me really happy (as do all of mine but those are for a different day). But every picture, letter, and figurine on my desk has a story- something that defines me. I can't pack it away yet. I need these memories to get me through exams. So today I want to thank Brian because even though it is totally random but looking at that picture keeps me going when I am dead tired and sick of studying. I put on a smile and keep going. It's surprising that something as simple as a picture can do that.

Who Has Told Every Lightning Bolt Where It Should Go?

Long long long day. It was one of those days were I wasn't sure what I was going to blog about.

The dorm I am in is really cold, all the time. Outside it is probably in the 60s and it is colder in my dorm. I have sweat pants and my hoodie on yet I was still shaking. I was dizzy, stressed, and getting quite frustrated with myself. Then I found my corn bag! So I microwaved that for a bit and I feel so much better. I know that is a really strange thing to blog about but it reminded me not to worry about the small things.

One of the biggest things I promote to everyone when things are stressful is to not worry about the little things. God will always provide, even if it is not the way I intended, God's way is always better. I was stressing over such stupid things that every little thing was bothering me. It felt like nothing was going right for me, but I failed to take my own advice and just let it go. Just go with it, not to worry. I have no control over some things in life no matter how much I want it.

Now I can hear the thunder outside and it is so calming. God is so amazing. "who has told every lightning bolt where it should go?" That is from my favorite song Indescribable by Chris Tomlin. If I put the lyrics to that song on here I could type forever and unfortunately I still have some studying to do. But basically God chooses where those lightning bolts go and he still has the time to worry about me. So why should I be stressed? He is Indescribable, I shouldn't forget about the wonderful moments I have had today because I got stressed temporarily.

Once I found my corn bag and felt better I got so much done too! I wrote my clarinet outline, finished reading for my english class, finished studying for theory, and now have started studying for religion. I even had time to eat dinner! It may have been unhealthy (ramen noodles, apple sauce, and mint chocolate chip ice cream) but I have a week left of my freshman year and I didn't gain my freshman ten, if anything I lost weight so I figured it doesn't matter.

I can do it, I won't let the little things get to me. No need to worry, I just do what I can, and let God handle the rest.

Liam Neeson Can Make Anything Epic

Well my internet is horrible so was unable to update this last night. Besides my internet failing at life it was one of the best days I had had in a while.

                                        

My day started off well when I got to go to the TBS/KKY pool party, I didn’t swim I just hung out and talked but that was well needed compared to being shut up in my dorm all day. TBS announced the new officers and a few awards and I shockingly got Tau of the Year! I am so honored to have this, because to me it means I am doing something right for the chapter. Everyone that was nominated for this award (and everyone that wasn’t) I believe contribute a lot to the chapter but something I am doing apparently makes me stand out. I have never been the person that is set apart; I have always worked hard but blend in with the rest of the crowd. It means so much that the chapter believes I am doing so well, they have truly made this year amazing and I don’t know how I will survive the summer without seeing them all the time.

After the pool party I got some studying done (finally!) and then Grant came down for dinner! He can’t come this week on his usual Sunday because of work problems so instead we hung out on Saturday. We picked up Chipotle and took it to the park for a picnic. It was so pretty outside and the food was really good. Then we Redboxed a movie, we didn’t see one that we really wanted to see on it so I picked one at random. So at random we ended up watching The Last Three Days staring Russell Crowe and it was actually really good. It was about a guy trying to break his wife out of jail because she was going to be put away for life for a murder she didn’t commit. I have seen better movies but for picking one at random I thoroughly enjoyed it.

To make the movie better though Liam Neeson was in it and gave this epic speech about escaping out of jail! I am pretty sure he can make any speech epic though. He just has one of those voices that whenever he talks you know it is a big deal and it is so much fun to hear him talk. Just imagine him saying “I would like a Big Mac, with double cheese, lettuce, pickles, and special sauce” and you have to admit it would be the most epic thing ever! In whatever movie he plays in he just makes his part so cool, so yeah that was definitely my favorite part of the movie.

So basically a pretty awesome day! Minus the internet being dumb but that can’t crush my spirit right now.