Playing with Fire

A couple days after the 4th, my parents and the girls and I busted out the snakes and sparklers. We were less impressed with the snakes. 

We were like giddy little school children trying to figure out how to take pictures writing in the air with the sparklers. 

Speaking of burning out, this is how I feel after studying for my music history midterm. 

What a Life! Day 8

 Finding joy today was a little harder because I didn't feel particularly well for the majority of the day. But there was still plenty of joy and fulfillment to be had! 

1. I had the whole morning and early afternoon free to work on my homework for my behavior management class.  It was nice to have the time to watch my favorite shows while folding laundry in between stretches of homework. 

2. I took a Sugar House park walk again. The weather is perfect right now because it's not too hot.  Seeing the beauty of God's earth while exercising the body He has given me is invigorating.  I had a bad headache today and the fresh air really helped. 

3. This is kind of silly, but I felt thankful today when a stranger smiled at me as we passed by one another at the park. It's such a simple thing; yet, it brightened my day.

4.  My dear friend Nathan agreed to help me out of a bind. He is a fabulous accompanist and I need someone in a week to accompany my concert choir at festival. I am so grateful for his talents and willingness to share them with me! 

5.  Today was our last meeting in Classroom Management. I learned so much in the class and am grateful for a professor, Dr. Napoles, who is so dedicated to her job.  I owe her a lot, as she has really guided me through this graduate program.  My colleagues are also down to earth people and we always have fun discussions in class. 

6.  I took a lot of pain medication for my budding migraine on a semi-empty stomach today and felt really awful for several hours. I found a lot of joy in filling my empty stomach, as it helped cure the nausea! I was so grateful it wasn't the stomach flu coming back for an encore...

7.  ...which leads me to number 7. Not tossing my cookies today brought me unspeakable joy, as I came dangerously close and we all know how fun that is.

8.  My mom gave me a gift card to Cold Stone just because.  Isn't she cute? Michelle, Jessame and I went today and it was deeeeelicious!

9.  There was a new epidode of "Hart of Dixie" on hulu. Yes!

10.  Crossed one thing off my spring break to-do list- got the shower games ready for Shelly's shower (second twins shower in one month!). 

On Being a Student

30 things I have learned about being a student:

I realize that, due to my somewhat obsessive compulsive tendencies, my experiences are not the same as others and may even cause you to question my ability to reason.

1. Papers written during an all nighter the day it is due are not the highest quality. 
2. Reading over a paper you've written once on the computer screen does not make for a thorough edit.
3. "And then I woke up" is not an appropriate story resolution (thanks to my 4th grade teacher, Mr. E, for making me re-write my ending and be more creative). 
4. Getting a C on a paper is not grounds for calling your mom crying from the bushes.
5. If you have the choice between going to Hawaii with your family or staying home so you won't miss two class periods of your city college summer class, go to Hawaii or live to regret it.  
6. Be careful who you write about and what you say.  It could come back to haunt you.  And it could get ugly.
7. Sticking around to be a finalist in the elementary school spelling bee is not a logical reason to stay home from a family trip to Disneyland (especially when you get out  fairly soon in the contest on the word "eligible").
8. Group work is the WORST, especially if you're the kid who is so stressed about getting an 'A' that you'd rather take on the whole project than risk the chance of not getting the project done.
9. Sometimes being the loudest can get you in big trouble.
10. Writing helps you process your emotions.
11. You will be rewarded for the extra effort you show your professors by going during office hours and getting help.
12. One of the greatest things about college is no substitutes.  If a professor is sick, class just gets canceled.
13. Getting your reading done doesn't mean you have to obsessively read and internalize every single word of every single line of every single page. 
14. The "Cursive Club" in third grade was not an exclusive group for people with awesome handwriting.  It's more like the naughty club for kids whose handwriting no one can read.  I don't know if I'll ever get over being invited to join that particular organization.
15. Avoid class comment domination.  If you realize you're the only one besides the teacher who is ever talking, give someone else a turn.  Chances are the rest of the class is pretty bugged by you anyway!
16. Do not correct a teacher in front of their students. 
17. Math can be fun (the operative word being "can").
18. Acronyms are one of the best ways to memorize for a test, along with connecting the information you need to know to events or people in your life.  
19. Just because you're a senior and have "paid your dues" to the theater department in spades does not mean you will get a lead in the school play. 
20. You really won't care about 99% of the people you knew in high school by the time you're 30.
21. Everyone has their own style of studying (mine happens to be either on my bed or on the floor, rarely at a desk).  
22. If at first you don't succeed, take a deep breath, stop crying, and be patient.  You are more capable than you ever knew.  
23. Grading isn't always fair.
24. Even college professors write a really bad test once in awhile.  
25. If you don't know where Russia is by the time you're a junior in high school, whatever you do, don't ask anyone.  Get a map and find out in the privacy of your own home. 
26. Studying hard pays off.
27. No one is brilliant at every single subject.  We all have academic strengths and weaknesses.
28. You learn better when you teach someone else.
29. That's two coats of varnish, not five, on the salt and pepper shakers in wood shop.
30. Part of our purpose in this life is to be a lifelong student.  Seek learning wherever you can.

Lost

Do you ever have moments where you have one or more of the following thoughts?

1) Did I choose the wrong career?
2) Do I have any idea what I'm doing at my job?
3) Am I qualified to do what I do?
4) Would the high school choral world be better off if I left it to someone else?

I am sitting in grad school in my "history and philosophy of music education" class and having all of these thoughts. At once. 

I'm out of my league here. Way out of my league. Do I even like music? Or teaching?  I don't understand any of my readings.  I can't remember anything I read after I read it. I therefore can't motivate myself to read. If I really loved this, wouldn't I eat up every word?

I know when I hear a poor tone quality that it needs to change. But do I know how to change it? I know when my students are singing flat. But how do I help them sing in tune? I have no idea.

I am panicking. What am I doing here in this classroom right now? At Highland?

Study Break

I did everything I could think of to put off the inevitable.

I baked cookies.  Since when do I ever bake for no apparent reason? Since never. Especially when I'm supposed to be on a "healthier eating for better quality of life" plan.

I finished all the games that were waiting on my phone, including "Dice with Buddies", "Scramble with friends", and "Words with friends,".

I watched an episode and a half from season two of Bones that I had already seen.

I fell asleep on the couch on purpose while watching the half episode of Bones and stayed there for at least an hour and a half.

By 7:26 p.m., I knew I could wait no longer.  I had to start my very first homework assignment for grad school.

I can't figure out what has gotten in to me. Why am I so freaked out to take this first step? But, since grad school isn't free and I recently paid my tuition, I knew I would never forgive myself if I forever pretended like the assignment didn't exist. The day of reckoning would come.  Consequently, I had to face the beast head on.

My first assignment was to find two scholarly research articles on music education and analyze them.  I scoured the Internet for 45 minutes trying to find an article appropriate for the assignment. I am realizing that I am clearly not as adept at using the Internet as my high school students are.  But finally, by 8:15 p.m., I was ready to start reading and analyzing.

By 9:30 p.m., I finished one article and couldn't bear to go on to number two just yet. Not to say it was boring; I actually thought it was very interesting and even kind of fun.  Nevertheless, I had reached my "fun" capacity.  So, I caught up on the games that had collected since I started my homework, read some blogs, sent some crucial texts, and wrote on my blog (as evidenced here).

It is10:00 p.m. and I think article two will need to wait until Saturday morning.   I am instead going to try to knock off reading one of the four packets for my "Philosophy of Music Education" class. It will be a miracle if I make it through half of one before becoming too distracted to continue.

Whatever happened to the days where I could sit in the library for 6 hours and cram for a music history test the next day that I put off preparing for until the last second?

I am definitely out of practice procrastinating. I need to work on that.

A sweet end and a hopeful beginning!

Have you ever wondered how one spends his/her very last days of sanity?

Not sure how some people do it, but I chose to do two of my favorite things the weekend before both high school and graduate school began:

Puzzling...

Dave found the last piece under a pillow on the couch (still not convinced he didn't hide it there like my siblings and I used to do when we were little so we could put in the final piece).

Needless to say, he was very pleased to have the opportunity to put it in. We busted out this 1,000 piece puzzle in one day (about 7 hours total).

Notice something that is a bit of a theme in my relationship with Dave...?

 ...and seeing more dear friends.

Tessa's beautiful baby Noelle was blessed on Sunday.

I challenge you to find a cuter baby anywhere else on earth.  Impossible.

Dave was such a sweetheart to come!

Playing with Many...

...and loving it!

Today, all of that summer bliss came to a halting stop.  

On this day, August 20th, I claimed this beautiful building as my new second home:

  

The surprising part is I am really excited about it. I had my first day of classes today and being in the classroom as a student was kind of exhilarating! 

A little known fact: I almost pulled out of grad school. I have been really worried about it. The idea of juggling work and school really scares me, which is wimpy considering people do it all the time (along with having a spouse and children!). Thank goodness I had loving friends and family encouraging me to be brave (and helping me remember that Heavenly Father would love me either way).  My first class tonight has 8 people and we have a lot in common in terms of our careers and interests.  It's really cool to be in school with a much narrower focus that directly relates to what I do every day.

I know there is a lot of work ahead, but at least I have a little more confidence that it might be an enjoyable ride!

Turn that racket down!

I have been trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to get up the motivation to study for my placement exams this summer. Turns out a lack of routine is not my forte.

My biggest accomplishment in this area thus far was a 2 hour stint (should have been 3) I did at the Murray library. I was armed with my music history book, my laptop, and head phones to listen to the music samples associated with the music I was studying.  I mostly ignored the laptop and curled up in a comfy chair with my book, my legs draped over the arm (which is how I study best...I'm not super compatible with desks and hard chairs. Which would lead one to question why I just don't study at home. Turns out this is impossible).

I listened to a couple songs at some point (a mass demonstrating pervasive imitation...?...from the Renaissance period and a song celebrating the construction of a dome during the same era). Then, I got back to reading.

After some time, I found another Renaissance piece I thought might be worth a listen, called "El Grillo" (the cricket).  Who wouldn't be curious about how that one goes? I plugged my headphones back in to the computer and turned it on.  The sound of a very cheerful quartet of men filled my ears as I went back to reading about the musical intricacies of the piece.

When what to my wondering ears did appear but a 17 year old girl (I'm assuming she worked there) tapping my shoulder and asking in an extremely kind manner if I could please turn down my music a little.  My eyes got wide immediately as I realized I had plugged my headphones into the wrong jack.  Not only was I enjoying the strains of the crickets, but so was the rest of the small, quiet, Murray library.  Ugh...so embarrassing.

The funniest part was how she tried to ease my embarrassment by saying sincerely, "Great music choice, though!" Do you think she really meant that?

Rise all loyal....Utes?!?!

Everyone knows that while blood is blue on the inside, it turns red when outside the body. Or is that just a wive's tale? At any rate, it is an appropriate analogy for the next few years of my life. While BYU is closest to my heart on the inside, I am going to be a Ute on the outside as I study music education in grad school at the University of Utah! I will still be teaching full time because I love my job desperately (and grad school isn't free it turns out :)), so I may go part time and take an extra year to finish. But I'm not in a hurry and I'm excited for this new adventure. I owe it to my students to learn all I can in order to be the best teacher I can be for them. I started telling my sophomores about getting my master's at the U and I said, "while I'll always be a cougar..." They stopped me and said, "Uhh, Miss Houston, you might not want to say that..." Oh yeah. A Cougar isn't just a BYU fan or alumnus anymore. Sad.