Looking for Help from Instrumentalists!

Hey everyone!

I am currently taking a class that requires me to do a final project within a multicultural class in the community.  The school I’ve been working with is Bryant Middle School in Salt Lake City with their music department.  I have been working with the jazz band, beginner bands and orchestra.  For my project I had to come up with something that I feel would benefit the students.  I have come up with three different parts of the project.

1. The first part of the project is to create brochures for the students.  These brochures would contain a compiled list of cool tips to fix/repair instruments, instrument care, playing technique tips, etc.  I have to complete this project by Sunday night, so any input ASAP would be greatly appreciated.
2. The second part of this project is to have a compiled list of live performances students can attend, types of music careers, and playing opportunities that would inspire Middle School students to remain in music program. 
3. The last part of this project is to have collegiate students come to Bryant Middle School with me on Monday (April 25).  The ideal time would be 10 am for their beginner band, although 9:30 could also work if more people could come.  This would be the jazz band.  For this part of the project, I would like to have the collegiate students demonstrate playing, have an instrument petting zoo, show how to repair instruments, and have a question and answer session. 

The instruments that I specifically need are:  Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Baritone/Tuba, Strings and Percussion (specifically drum kit).  These are the instruments that the band members play, but all instrument input is definitely accepted!

I know this is very short notice, but with a lack of efficient communication between my teachers and I it has kind of come down to the wire.  If anybody has tips, that would be great!  Feel free to comment on here, e-mail me, text me, call, me, anything.  The brochures need to be completed by Sunday night.  If anybody would be interested in coming to the school with me on Monday, that would be fantastic!    The sooner you can let me know, the better.  Thanks so much!!!

Don't Know What You've Got 'til It's Gone...

                For WDC this year, we are all coming to Portland, OR.  I decided to come up a few days to early to Corvallis via greyhound so that I could see how I like it (because I’m considering moving to Portland or Corvallis for grad school).  On the bus I was pretty reserved and quiet until the end of the trip.  This was mostly because I was tired and it was a very, very long trip.  The people were nice, though for the most part they struck me as “hicks” (please excuse my stereotype).  The man sitting in front of me boarded the bus shortly after we got into Oregon (if I recall correctly?), was on crutches, had a 3” long goatee, gray hair, a hunter’s cap, and dressed like a cowboy.  Towards the end of the trip we started conversing with all the people around us.  When asked him how he got injured, he informed us that he was run over by a semi… twice.  Apparently he was standing on the side of the road when the truck driver dozed off and ran over him.  Not knowing what happened, the driver decided to back up, running over him again.  This kind of struck home to me because my sister-in-law was killed by a semi-truck driver about 11 years ago.  After we arrived in Portland I didn’t see him leave, but he wasn’t in the terminal with me for the hour and a half that I waited there.  I went out to lunch with a friend during the layover and when I returned he was there along with a 20-year-old man that had ridden the bus with us.  He wasn’t waiting for the same bus we were, but he was hanging around the terminal because he was staying in a hotel tonight in Portland before flying to Dallas to have surgery.  We were conversing and somehow we started talking about his accident.  Apparently after he was struck he was in a coma for 17 days, then was taken to a retirement home for recovery.  He has pins in his arms and legs, and has plates in his head.  He has scars all over.  He’s been wheelchair and crutches bound since he was able to leave his hospital bed.  He also informed me that his daughter just recently passed away.  He stated that “parents shouldn’t have to bury their own children.”  I told him my mother frequently says that and that two of my siblings have had spouses die.  It was hard to watch him try to cope with what happened while being there with us.  I recall him also saying “I stayed alive for her, and she couldn’t do the same for me” and “after it happened, I just wanted to hurt everybody like I hurt.”  How do you cope with that kind of situation?  One of my biggest fears is the pain I’m going to feel when that sort of thing happens to me.  Seeing the pain on his face was hard enough.

                After giving him a minute to compose himself, I told him about him about how I had plans to go Snowboarding in Oregon, but that those plans were canceled.  He told me he was a skier, so I asked if he had ever skied in Utah.  He totally has!  Not only has he skied in Utah, but he’s been to Snowbird (where I work) and Alta.  How awesome is that?  He then told me how fantastic the snow is, and that although most places in Oregon don’t compare most of the time (occasionally they do), there are a couple places that do.  I don’t remember which places he said though, I’ve never heard of them before.   We also found a ski magazine of Mt. Hood Meadows where we looked at the trail map and I compared it to Snowbird for him.  We tried to explain to the 20-year-old about how if you go out of bounds you’re screwed if you get injured haha.  I searched in my backpack to see if I could find a trail map of Snowbird but couldn’t.  I did find my ski pass though, and showed it to him.  He asked me if he could have my “Snowbird” lanyard, so I gave it to him (hopefully I can find a new one haha).  I’m not sure why, but this simple gesture seemed to touch him.  To me, I simply gave away my lanyard.  To him, I was a girl that had a big heart.  This sort of bothered me a little bit, because I feel like there is so much more I could have done for him.  When I had to say goodbye, he said “thank you so much for this, it means a lot to me.  Especially coming from one skier to another (I corrected him and told him I’m a boarder).”  I then gave him a hug and left. 

                The whole experience was pretty awesome, but I can’t help feel bad in a way.  This man has been through so much.  He used to ride a bike tens of miles a day.  He used to ski all the time.  He used to do all these things, and they were taken away from him by someone that didn’t have the decency to pull over on the side of the road because they were too tired to be driving.  And he lost his daughter.  I can’t imagine how much that must hurt.  On top of it all, he was so grateful to me for something as small as a lanyard that he can show to people.  I am frustrated with myself because I didn’t do more.  I should have gotten his phone number so I could call and make sure he was doing alright after his surgery.  I didn’t even get his name… not even his first name.  I feel so selfish.  I didn’t do anything to deserve better things in life than him, and I feel like I have so much more I could have given. 

                I really hope his surgery went well.  I wish I had gotten some sort of information so I could call and check up on him.  What I do know is that his gratitude for a simple lanyard and hug will affect me for the rest of my life.  To him, I was the girl with the big heart that listened and shared my lanyard.  To me, he’s the man that is still fighting after all that has happened to him, and grateful to be alive even though he’s lost the ability to do the things that are most important to him.  It inspires me to keep on fighting, especially because my battles are much smaller and much more manageable.  If he can do it, I sure can too.

                By the way, Portland is beautiful.  In my consideration for places to move I am also looking at Seattle.  I've driven through there once, and it was absolutely gorgeous.  I've heard many great things.  After arriving in Portland, Seattle has some stiff competition!  Dang, I hate making life-altering decisions.

Whoo New Year!

Holy crap it’s been ages since I’ve blogged on this blog! Well, ok, it’s been ages since I blogged on either blog… but the other one is definitely more up to date than this one.

Well, I’m just gonna keep it short and sweet, and hit on some highlights of the last 3-4 months!

So, overall things have been going well. As far as my running goes (which I mentioned in my last post), I’ve done really well! In all of my 5k training, I never missed a run, and I completed a 5k on Thanksgiving! I was super excited! The funny thing is that afterwards, all I could say was “oh my goodness, I can’t believe I actually did it!” It was a great feeling.

Right after my 5k

Now I’m training for a 10k, which will take place on my birthday in Midway, UT. It’s going to be soooo cold! I’m excited though! I haven’t missed a run in the entire 15 weeks I’ve been training, and last Saturday I completed a 4.5 mile run. This Saturday will be 5 miles, next week will be 5.5 miles, the week after that will be 6 miles, then the following week will be the 10k. On Mondays and Wednesdays I run also, with 3 miles on Mondays and 2 miles with weights on Wednesdays. As far as my weight loss to this point, my ultimate goal was to lose 35 lbs before my birthday, which calculated out to be a loss of 2 lbs a week. I am way off track though, and have only lost 25 lbs to this point. I only have 3 weeks left to lose 10 lbs... lucky for me I have caught up a little bit these last few days, and I’m not ridiculously far off like I anticipated. I might extend the diet until Valentines Day, but we’ll see how I feel when it gets closer to my birthday. I hope to lose another 10-15lbs to reach my ultimate goal. As of today though, I am no longer “overweight” according to the BMI, which was the one goal I for sure HAD to reach.

School has been alright, but it feels weird to not attend classes and only take them online. I can’t wait to be done and start teaching music. I miss it a lot.


The holidays went well… I had a good Christmas, and enjoyed spending time with the family. New Years was more eventful than it has been for me in a long time… probably the most eventful ever actually haha. On my boyfriend’s birthday, I made my first homemade cheesecake. It tasted delicious, even though I’m not too fond of cheesecake. Half a slice was enough for me haha… it was SUPER sweet! It looked pretty though!

Ginny has been good. I bought her a sweater for the first time ever, and when I put it on her in the mornings she gets super excited. I really expected her to hate it, but I think she loves it. It’s red, and she looks super adorable.

I got a new phone, which is a HTC Droid Incredible. This in itself isn’t really something I’d normally mention in a blog, but my reason for it was because I got the Kindle application. Since then, I am addicted to books! I’m on my third book on there, but it’s got me hooked on audio books again, and also normal books. In the last 2 months, I’ve read Harry Potter (I was reading them since August, and so it was probably only the last two I was reading in the last couple months), Pride and Prejudice, The Hunger Games, Fireflies in December, and the Lovely Bones. Right now I’m reading Eragon, Sense and Sensibility and Catching Fire. One book is a real book, one is a kindle ebook, and the last is an audiobook (which I listen to while I run). Dang I love books! My mom is also addicted to her kindle application haha.

As far as my New Year's resolutions go, I've come up a very original one!  Or, maybe not so much haha.  My resolution is to continue running, finish losing 15 lbs, and ultimately run a half marathon.  This would hopefully be in the Salt Lake Marathon, but if I can't do it then, I'll do a Halloween Half Marathon.  It would be awesome to do both though!  I want to come up with one more resolution, but I can't decide.  I'm thinking maybe something like taking up dancing, cake decorating, becoming a better cook, or something else that would be awesome.  Feel free to give me any ideas!!!  Oh, I also want to put my household on a diet :).

Well, that’s all I have to say for now… if I think of anything, I’ll add it on here. Hope things are going well for everyone!!! Ciao!