Skyping with Hannah

Many years ago I met a girl in church who completely changed my life. Her name was Hannah. I didn't know that 11 years later Hannah would still be in my life nor did I know we would be such great friends.

You know those characters on movies were their best friend lives right next door to each other and instead of calling they just run over to their house to ask about their day? Well that was Hannah and my relationship along with Caitlin. We were an inseparable group. We laughed, cried, shared each others burden. Those two girls I know will be with me for the rest of my life, all the trials we have been through together and we still are friends I have concluded that nothing can split us up.

It is so hard to put into words what we have all been through together but I appreciate those girls so much. I admire there strength. We all have had different challenges come our ways but I am so proud of those wonderful women. No matter what goes on with them they sit and listen to my problems. I almost feel sick complaining but they want to share my burden. Mine is so different and so weak compared to theirs. That is the truest friendship.

I could write for hours about all the adventures I have had with them. All the trouble we've caused (mainly Hannah and I with Caitlin telling us not to get into trouble), the countless sleepovers, movie nights, debates involving Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Today we no longer live on the same street, we actually haven't for many years now. But our friendship is still strong. Hannah has lived in Oklahoma for a while now so I no longer run to her house after I finish my homework. Today I got to Skype her which is the next best thing to actually having her back in Texas. We talked about everything new that was going on, update each other on how our past problems were turning out.

I may no longer have that movie perfect friendship with my best friend living right next door, but I have to say I have not seen a movie with a friendship that can withstand as much as the bond between Caitlin, Hannah, and I have. So in my book I have a friendship that is better then the picture perfect movie friendship.

Love Like Crazy

I have been going through a country music phase for a while now. There is just something about it that allows people to relate to it. It tells a story not a dramatic scene that is absurd and overused. Today I finally purchased one of my favorite songs Love Like Crazy by Lee Brice.

The song is about a couple that despite all odds turned into extremely successful people. They are asking them how they did it, and the response is what really gets me-

Be a best friend, tell the truth
And overuse "I love you"
Go to work, do your best
Don't outsmart your common sense
Never let your prayin' knees get lazy
And love like crazy

Life is simple, as long as you do your best things will work out. Maybe never to plan, but they work out eventually. When things get rough or don't follow to my plans I know that everything that begins to lack in my life is everything Lee Brice put in the chorus. This song is such a great reminder to me that no matter what goes on everything works out.

Night Class

Similar to my first semester of college last year I have a night class once a week. From good ol' 6-8:40 p.m. Lovely right? Well it has a core credit I need so I signed up for it. Today I had my first class of this Intro into Anthropology business and it went a lot better than I expected.

The teacher is quirky (but I expected that) and was under the delusion that everyone in his class is really interested in his subject. Honestly, I took it for the core credit but I didn't have the heart to tell him. What was awesome is that a good third of the class is all band students! I did not expect that at all. Those three hours every Thursday night just got so much better.

Now that I actually type that out I realize how dumb this all sounds, but whatever. It made my day even though it seems silly but it's things like that which make college a blast.

The Horrid Heat

Towards the end of summer camp I definitely did my fair share of complaining about it and when I got back to civilization I continued with my fair share of complaining about the hard parts of my summer. What I really can't get over though is how much stronger of a person I am.

Today was one of the hottest days at practice and I figured that my summer camp 'being fit' feel was gone. The first 15 minutes were rough but after that I was so energetic. I was hardly sweating, I was dashing back to my spot, I have never felt so awake during practice. What on earth has camp done to me (though I must say I really like this change)?

While a good majority of the band was getting dehydrated and sore, I was just becoming more energetic. Normally I would be the one starting to feel sluggish and step out for a second. But I honestly feel like I need to go run another mile with all the extra energy I have now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think this is a sign I need to work out more often...... probably should think about putting that in my regular schedule.

Laundry Right Out of the Dryer

I can't be one of the only people who loves laundry right out of the dryer. Not only does it smell really good but it is warm and fluffy! Laundry might be a pain to do and take forever but it is worth it when I finally pull it out of the dryer. I guess I had some sort of obsession with it today because I did three loads of laundry. It does help that the washers and dryers are on the same floor as my room. If this is going to be a new obsession of doing laundry all the time instead on once a week I guess that's not a bad thing.

Joe

So I felt my life flash before my eyes today. I have my orchestra audition tomorrow morning and wind symphony audition Tuesday. Of course today was going to be the day my clarinet breaks!

I am pretty sure time froze once I realized it was broken. No matter how hard I work something that simple could wreck my audition. I had a minor emotional break down. Once I finally got a grip on myself and came to my senses I called my parents and they gave me the phone number to the clarinet repairman I have used all the way through high school.

Joe (the clarinet repairman) listened to my situation and gave me his home address to bring my clarinet to. My dad then drove down all the way from Allen, picked me up, drove to Joe's and within 20 minutes of walking into Joe's house he had my clarinet repaired! Not only was it fixed in time for my audition tomorrow but Joe didn't charge me for it either!

I could breath again, finally! I was so scared for those few hours and like always everything turned out ok. I guess I will never learn.

Grant is Here!

Grant is here! Grant is here! Grant is here! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I haven't seen him since I have moved in. It was such a surprise to have him drive down and see me. I had a band event late but right as I was leaving the pep rally I turn back and see him walking towards me. I love it here at school but I missed him so much. This week has been really hectic so we hadn't had the chance to really talk about how things had been now that we are back at school. We walked to Yo and got to talk about everything. I don't think I had talked so much all week. Not only is he the love of my life but my best friend and I really missed my best friend.

The Clarinet Section

I love being part of such a quirky section. They have really made my day and reminded me why I missed this place so much. Band camp is such a blast because of them.

I had full intentions to write more but I am exhausted, I will write more tomorrow.

Fitness

I have never been 'in shape'. But I realized that today at band camp I am actually doing pretty well. Normally I am sweating and feeling gross on the first day. Today was the first day of marching band, and I wasn't tired at all. I might have been tired of summer camp but I never would have realized that it put me in shape. Thank goodness too. I feel so incredibly confident about myself which rarely happens!

Summer in a Nutshell

I apologize greatly for my fail at writing on this in so long. Camp got crazy and life just doesn't slow down to allow me to type everything I would want to. So instead of typing a ton of blog posts I am just going to summarize it here then be back on track to my one a day blog post!

Camp was a lot of fun, it was a unique job and I will say I learned a lot. I ended up teaching leatherwork and basketry. It was a much better fit for me than office work. Whenever a kid tells me that I am their favorite teacher or a scoutmaster tells me that I am doing a really good job is so much more rewarding compared to filing paperwork. This summer had it's ups and downs but looking back on it now that I have finished camp it was worth it. I am not sure if I will do it again (just because I need a 'real' job that applies to my major) but I have learned a lot about the real world and have developed a new sense of patience. It's really hard to describe everything that happened there, I guess it's something you have to experience to understand.

Now I am back in at school! YAY! I have missed it so much. This is also the first day of band camp! It is so nice to see everyone again and be back in a place where I feel comfortable and have air conditioned showers (I HATED that about summer camp, showers that our outside without air conditioning are disgusting). It's hard to believe that a year ago I was the scared little freshman coming here and now on my first day as a Sophomore I am more comfortable coming back here then I ever was going back to high school year after year. God has blessed me with some incredible people in my life that have really helped me feel so comfortable here.