Texas

I just accepted a position teaching music at a Christian school down in Texas! I'll be teaching elementary 3 days a week (2 days of choir, 1 day of general music) and Junior and Senior High 5 days a week (3 days of choir, 2 days of general music) as well as possibly doing some private lessons. I visited the school a couple of weeks ago and took some pictures while I was there.

Elementary chapel in the auditorium

The front of the school building

The radio tower on the west side of the school building


The front of the church building



The school building from the road

Turn right just a little, and you'll see the sign advertising the radio station

The sign for the church

The sunrise from the principal's house...notice the palm trees!

I finally graduated!!!

Yes, believe it or not, I've finally graduated from college! May 2, 2008, I walked across the front of the gymnatorium (yes, that's really what it's called: it's the gym; it's the auditorium; it's the gymnatorium), collected my diploma (or the folder thingy that the diploma was to eventually end up in), shook hands with Dr. Phelps (the president of the college) and Dr. Ledgerwood (the music department head), who turned my beautiful pink tassel. You want to see pictures? Here are a few:

Senior Recital

So, I had my Senior recital on Friday! It was the last thing that I had to finish to qualify for graduation, and now I'M DONE!!! Here are some pictures...hope you enjoy!

Burckart Hall, Maranatha

"Dank Sei Dir" trio

"De Gospel Train"

Mrs. Ruffin (my teacher) and me

Ruth (my accompanist) and me

My Dad, me, and my Mom

Dr. Budahl (my presider), me, and Ruth (my accompanist)

Rebekah and I sang "Evening Hymn" from "Hansel and Gretel"

Two of my ushers serving cake and punch (non-alcoholic, of course)

My program with one of the flowers from my parents

The inside of the program: translations of my Italian, French, and German songs

Next installment coming soon: GRADUATION!!!! May 2, 2008

Ok, you can kill me if you want...

I know it's been a long time since I've posted...let me give you a little update....

I have an apartment in town with my sister. Working at Comfort Suites. Did my Junior voice recital at the end of November:

and am preparing for my Senior voice recital in the end of April. Planning on graduating in May. Looking for a job for after this summer, when the apartment lease ends. Have one option, but it's not definite. I haven't even sent in the application, yet. Plan to do that this week...hopefully...Still playing organ at church...and helping with Teen Time.

I'm going to try to keep up with this a little better....we'll see how that goes...

Detroit Tiger's game 8/10/07

Part of the Comerica Stadium, where the Tigers play

A church that you can see from the stadium: "Pray here for the tigers & lions!"

Hockeytown (go Red Wings!!!) Cafe, where we had a yummy supper

The scoreboard

Can you see the ball between the pitcher and the catcher? It's kindof small, but it's there.

Detroit Tigers' home plate

Detroit skyline

The fountain spewed every time the tigers scored

The scoreboard at night

The tiger's head at night

lately...

I know I haven't been as up-to-date as I have been in months past. My life is very busy at this point! Let me tell you what's up:

Well, to start off, I was at the Bill Rice Ranch this summer (see the pictures from my last post). I was VERY busy with that, so I didn't have time to post over the summer. I'm hoping to be able to post more pics and stories, but that may take some time.

After camp, I went home for a few weeks. I found a new apartment where my sister and I are now living. It's a nice little place, not fancy or anything, but it's a place to live!

I also started a new job a couple of weeks ago. I am no longer at Microtel *sniff, sniff*, but I am still in the hotel business. I'm the low person on the totem pole, now. Oh well. It's a LOT closer than Microtel, so it's saving me time, gas money, AND miles on my car! What a blessing! And there are a lot more girls working her than at Microtel, which is kindof nice.

God continues to be good. He is always showing me more and more that He is faithful to those who trust in Him.

Wow...it's been a long time...

Sorry for the long pause since the last post. I don't even have much of an excuse, other than that I've been busy trying to finish up school for the semester, which ended well! Thanks for asking! I took Choral Arranging and voice lessons this semester. For my project for Choral Arranging, we had to write an arrangement for a choir (hence the name "Choral arranging"). Well, last summer sometime, I heard a verse from Psalm 31 in a message. I liked the verse, so I wrote down the reference for the future. I went back later and read the whole psalm, and as I read it, I thought that it would make a really good song. Since then, I've been working on setting some of the verses to music, which was mostly done before I started the class. The class helped me actually finish what I had started, and I'm pretty happy with the results! I might even try to get it published someday! Hmmm...

I also had my Sophomore platform this week, which went well, also. I passed! So, that means I get to give the school more money next year!

Last week, we had a game night. We've had gym nights at a local rec. center, but this time, we had the activity at church. Since we don't have a gym, and the weather is nice, we decided to call it a "game night." We played games outside, then had some skits and a salvation message. I'll post some pictures at the end. But it was definitely a blessing for me to be able to take Shawna back and show her how to get saved, and she was gloriously saved that night!

We also had a meeting on Sunday. We ordered KFC and went to Riverside Park for a picnic, then had a meeting to decide who is going to do what next year at church. It was definitely a good time, and I'm excited to see what might happen next year, though sad to see Amy and Titus leave. I'll definitely miss them a lot.

Anyways, here are some pictures!

Game night:







Picnic at the Park:

girl's day out

Ok, so yesterday was a really fun day. Beckah, Jen, and I skipped classes and got off of work for a "girl's day out." I enjoyed it a LOT!

We had certificates for some free services at a salon in Madison. We got our hair cut and styled:

(My first salon haircut in a while)

We got our nails done:

My first EVER maincure! Very enjoyable!
We went out for lunch...here are Beckah and I

Adam gave us the certificates for the salon, so we met him for lunch...here are Jen and Adam

We went to the school play, "H.M.S. Pinafore." It was a cute play, though not completely logical...but it's a musical; what can you expect?!?
Jen, me, and Beckah with some of the sailors:

Ok, we didn't notice this until someone pointed it out...on the front of the "ship" was Dr. Oats! We had to get a picture with him!

Then, we went to the Late Night Skate! It was so much fun!