Almost Christmas

Jared and I are excited to go back to Texas for Christmas on Tuesday! I have all of my home made and non-home made gifts ready, and Jared is getting a haircut tomorrow (long overdue)! I have been getting more wrapped up with the holiday spirit here, traffic and all, and have enjoyed shopping this year for a few gifts. The traffic has been absolutely insane here! It normally takes 20 minutes for me to go down to the southbay from my new place, and Tuesday and Wednesday it took me over an hour.

Jared just finished his 13th movie in 3 1/2 years today! He got home early, and we are actually staring at each other bc we don't know what to do with ourselves (so now I am blogging and he is drinking a beer!) I am going to humor him and go see Avatar this evening and grab some Chipotle (p.s. we can walk to both from our new place). I have heard great things about the movie, so it should be good, but fantasy/science fiction is not really my thing always. When we get back from Texas, Jared is starting on Alice in Wonderland for a month!

I am going to enjoy my 2 weeks off from teaching, and kicked it off by making some delicious home made cinnamon rolls this morning! They are the best I have ever had! Thank you Prudence Pennywise!

I made mine without the orange, and a cinnamon/sugar mixture instead, and added milk to the icing and omitted the orange juice. They weren't very difficult and so amazing! I am definitely going to make them this Christmas for breakfast!

Thanks for reading! This has been a very random post!

New House Pics!

Welcome!
Our 2 parking spaces out back!
Kitchen


Living



walkway to hallway
Bedroom 1




Hallway (Bathroom on left and Bedroom 2 on right...work in progress, so no pics yet!)
Bathroom

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Thanksgiving 2009

Here is a movie of our Thanksgiving this year! It killed last year's! We have everything down now, and we had a great time making all the food!
This is mostly for the benefit of our parents, so if you think this is a ridiculous documentary, you are probably right...

Friday night

The concert was so great last night (LaPhil playing Berio Folk Songs and Schubert Unfinished)! It was a casual Friday concert, so the orchestra was wearing normal clothes which was weird at first, but nice to realize that they are all just normal people (most with poor style unfortunately). There was someone sporting river sandals with socks, or rather sladnasrevirs (a term I coined with some friends to make fun of band dorks at band camp in 7th grade) that wore that same thing. It is just river sandals spelled backwards....i know....dorky! So ugly, right....

Anyway, The performance was wonderful and I also got to hear the new principal flutist, Mathieu Dufour!!!! So AMAZING! His sound was so buttery and he didn't sound like he was even trying to make beautiful phrases. This is something I need to work on. He sounded so effortless! He was principal of Chicago Symphony from 1999-2009, and was principal of Paris National Opera Orchestra from 1996-1999. Hope I run in to him for a lesson at some point!

I didn't end up wearing the dress below bc I didn't have time to iron it, but I wore the other one I bought at the sale! It was a short concert, so Jared and I still had time to come home and have some cherry pie! :) What a great evening! Just what I needed!

LaPhil

Tomorrow night, Jared and I are going to the LaPhil! Jared got me tickets for my birthday. This will be the first concert I get to see this season as well as the first time I will get to see Dudamel! They are playing the same piece that I saw the Boston Symphony play 4 years ago....Schubert Unfinished. This is one of my all time favorite pieces!
I also have a new dress for the event bc I went to the friends and family sale at Banana Republic. My friend works there and gave me a 30% off coupon! I got 2 dresses for $50! Here is the one I will probably wear tomorrow with tights! Too short without!

This is the first thing I have purchased in 2 months. Sorry Katie, I broke the shopping hiatus for the 30% off! I feel like I have made progress on this front, though. Not buying something just because you wanted it or walked in the store and the store "made you buy it", but rather going in with certain things that you are looking for. I feel really good about putting this part of my life in to perspective. I just realized many more of the things that are more important and worthwhile to spend our money on. Thoughts??

You may have noticed...

...that I haven't blogged in a while. There has been too much going on that I didn't feel right about blogging about, so I haven't. I will give you an abbreviated version of everything that has happened in the last month...

We found a new awesome place in Culver City, we rented it, we moved in, we love it! I have more space to practice, entertain, etc. I also have my own washer/dryer!!!! Now I can tell my grandma that I don't share laundry with 10 other people. She was not a fan of that! We also have two parking spots and Jared can walk to work! I am just trying to get used to driving more now that I have to commute to teaching down south. But no biggie, only 3 days a week! Just an adjustment.

Our good friends have canceled their wedding. We are dealing with all that comes with that. One was living with us, and now the other is. Trying to figure out how to be Jesus to both of them. We were friends with both and still are, so dealing with the complicated mess that it is. Wanting to fix it, but can't.

I am also frustrated that I haven't been able to practice and pursue flute related things recently because of all that is going on.

Because of all of these things, I am stressed. My body has not been this tense since college. I thought I had learned to let go of stress when I moved to Cali, but my body is telling me otherwise. Also, trying to get rid of stress is not easy! Playing the flute helps, even writing about it helps, and I am usually the type of person to say, hey I am just not going to be stressed, and I won't be anymore. However, I have not been able to do that this time. I have to move on with some of my goals bc they have been put on hold for over 2 weeks!

You know when you hear moms talking about taking care of their kids and not getting a break for themselves, that is how I feel right now, but without the kids part. I am learning that the world does not revolve around me, slowly, and that my personal goals and ambitions may not be what God has for me right now to pursue with all of my efforts. People are His first priority, and I am learning what that looks like. I don't think that God wants us to always put all of our dreams and goals on the back burner, but I think He is trying to show me how important people are to Him.

For now, deep breaths....
And pictures of the new place coming soon!

Mutemath at Club Nokia

Jared and I went to see Mutemath at Club Nokia on Saturday day night with our good friends Katie and Andrew Feistel.

We went to an awesome restaurant/bar called The Must before and Katie and I split chicken sliders and Mac and Cheese! So delish! It was a really cool atmosphere. Going out to cool places in downtown always reminds me of how I need to do it more often! It just adds up with parking and food, etc.

The concert was AMAZING! If you don't know Mutemath, please check them out here! At the end of the show the drummer threw his tom out in the audience, he jumped out and stood on it while people were holding it, then, he jumped off of the drum in to the audience! I don't think they were ready for him, because it took a while for him to come to the surface. Haha! The singer sounds just like he does on the CD, which makes me happy bc I hate when singers suck live! They also had a ton of cool instruments they incorporate in the show, and they have a lot of jam sessions on stage. This also makes me happy, bc I know they can ACTUALLY play their instruments as opposed to memorizing a few cool parts. Go see them live, you won't regret it!

Time to go practice while my laundry is going! Lesson with Jim Walker in a week!

Friday!

I am so glad it is Friday bc I have been waiting for this master class with Robert Dick for a couple of weeks now and have been stressing a little about performing his crazy piece in front of him tomorrow. I have a pretty good handle on things, but today is the last day to practice for the class. I just need to get the second movement faster and work on some of the awkward fingering transitions in the first movement!

On another note, I listened to the live broadcast on KUSC last night of Gustavo Dudamel's season opening concert in the WDCH last night! It was incredible. I am a huge fan of Adams' new work City Noir!

I asked for tickets to go see Dudamel and the Phil for my b-day, and I think someone might have purchased them!!! <3

Get out there!!!!

Please be inspired by the following!




I stole this off of a friends' blog and couldn't resist sharing!

I love LA and all...

BUT until today, it still felt like summer. I think I was having a hard time transitioning in to "work mode" from "summer mode" because it has been so warm. I was not focusing on my flute practicing like I should have been and did not prepare enough for the two youth orchestra auditions that I had this past month. In turn, I did not play the best that I could have. This is so disappointing after the fact because I really want to have an orchestra to play with. This is my own damn fault and I hate being aware of this! I have just been so distracted!!!

Jared pointed out to me yesterday that now I have a clear gauge of if I did well or not, where as few years ago, I didn't know if I played well or not at an audition. It sucks way more now being able to tell when you didn't play something up to your potential. It also sucks knowing that the judges excused you because you didn't play well, and you knew you were wasting their time while you were playing and should have excused yourself!!! YIKES!

I am turning over a new leaf, just as the seasons are turning. The following is more for me to write this out than entertainment value for you! Continue if you wish!
I am not going to schedule time to see friends until I have scheduled my practice time in for the week. This way, I will not get distracted by hanging out with people or even running errands or doing chores. I love all of those things, so it is hard for me sometimes to separate out my work time vs. chill time. I am also going to focus on the things that motivate me!

LIKE...
Listening to one classical piece every morning through our PS3, which can stream naxos.com while I eat my breakfast and drink my morning coffee! Listening to quality music always inspires me, no matter what it is! Then, I will get ready for the day and warm up (Taffanel and Gaubert, Monroe book, scales...even some piccolo!). Then, I will asses the pieces that I need to practice, and then include some that I want to as well. Some Jazz standards with improv and some Bach sonatas for fun and sight-reading purposes. I am also memorizing the Mozart Concerto in G right now. Definitely some orchestral excerpts and some flute and guitar music!

All of that to say, I need this new spurt of motivation! Thanks for reading!

:)

Flying Lessons

I have to learn two of Robert Dick's Flying Lessons from Vol. II by Saturday the 10th. I just got them in the mail today and realized how difficult they are. There are so many ridiculous fingerings that I have to learn! I always love these extended technique pieces after I figure them out and they sound pretty...BUT, until then, they are sooooo painful. I want to pull my hair out! I think it is so interesting that a composer can hear something so bizarre in his or head, write it out, then have it be so complicated that the person learning the piece can't hear how it goes until he/she learns everything perfectly. When sight-reading other pieces, you can hear the melody right away, even if you aren't expressing it the way the composer intended.

P.S. I have an audition for Debut Saturday that I need to practice for too. Anyone want to take it for me?

Dance!

For those of you who don't know, my friend Katie and I started taking a jazz dance class this summer. We decided to continue on this school year and we moved up to jazz 2! We are having a great time even though we have 9 year olds all the way up to our age in the class. Being honest, there is one other girl in college, and then the rest in middle school! The class says age 9-adult, so technically we are in the right place!

I found this picture yesterday when I was on Jared's computer. It sums up why I am taking my current dance class. I hope and pray we get costumes like this for our recital! Yes, I am going to be in a dance recital in June with 9 year olds. I will probably be in the back bc I am tall...For the record, I was in the front of the dance when I wore this outfit, because everyone followed me for the steps! I was probably 9 years old in this picture...no hips just like the girls in my class, although I think I could probably jazz walk better than they can! Ha!
My favorite part of this outfit is the backwards hat, and the bead "chain" on the front of the outfit! What about you!?

A Free Saturday!

This Saturday was one of the coolest days in a while! Jared and I were able to do a few free things that were very fun!

Saturday morning we got to go see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs in 3D! It was a great film! Hilarious, beautiful to watch, and a great story! I highly recommend it! For adults and kids!

Later, I got to play at an event for Gallo Family Wine Co. at the Hollywood Bowl before the concert. I played a number of jazz tunes as well as some latin and folk songs with guitarist, John Storie. We had a great time performing, and it seemed that everyone at the party enjoyed the music as well. Jared and a few friends got to enjoy the free food and wine and then we also got to see Pink Martini that night for free at the Hollywood Bowl!

I never thought I would be playing jazz at a dinner party, but there I was! I am having such a great time with it, and hope to continue to learn more about jazz and everything you need to know to be successful at "soloing" (If that is even what everyone calls it?).

I am slowly getting more calls for students, so that is great, and I hope to land a few more cool gigs this year!

:)

My current world of fluting!

I have been given so many cool opportunities lately, and I am extremely grateful!

I don't think it has set in yet, but I have an audition tonight for the American Youth Symphony. It is just to get on the sub list, but that would still be very cool!

I will also be auditioning for the Debut Orchestra in October!

Next Saturday, the 19th, I am playing before the Pink Martini concert at the Hollywood Bowl for a dinner party for Gallo Family vineyards! I am playing with John Storie, a really cool guitarist, and I am very excited! We are going to do a combination of jazz, latin, and others.

Recently, I also got to record with a flute choir with David Shostac playing the Vivaldi concertos! I hope I get asked back to play on the rest! I had a great time!

I have also been trying to get some more students. This is a tricky business because you have to find the kids who really want lessons and people who live semi-close to me and the studio. I am going to print flyers and hang them around MB soon, and also visit some schools!

I have also been trying to come up with places to email for gig opportunities for me and my guitarist (We are calling ourselves the Allegria Duo). I have mostly emailed museums so far. If you have any suggestions of where people might want to hear this combo, please let me know!

I have also joined a site that directs people to hire you for events. We have received 3 opportunities to bid in the last week. Hopefully someone will pick us! This is mostly for weddings and parties, which are really fun!

So, that is what I have been up to! If you have anyone who needs live music, let me know! There are recordings on my website if you haven't checked it out already!

robinbrient.com/audio

Have a great weekend! I will be watching college football ALL DAY Saturday! :) Yes, I play the flute, but I love me some football! Go Horns!

Prayers for Schools

Just wanted to give a shout out to my friends who are teachers who begin the new year today and kids I know who are starting school today. I am praying for you all and even for those that I don't know. You will all do great!

<3

Simple Spanish Fritatta!

Here is something you should make for dinner tonight!

I made this up based on a recipe I saw on TV for a lox and egg Fritatta

Spanish Fritatta

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups fresh Spinach

8 eggs

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican Cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can rotel diced tomatoes and peppers

Pre-heat oven to 325

Pour olive oil into a 12 inch oven safe skillet

Cook Spinach down in oil on med-high, then spread evenly around skillet

Wisk eggs in a separate bowl, stir in cheese, Rotel tomatoes and peppers, and chopped onion

Pour mixture evenly over cooked down spinach

Cook on med until edges pull away from pan with a spatula

Put skillet in oven and cook for 30 minutes

Serve with:

Chips and Guacamole and Salsa

Black Beans

Uncle Ben's 90 second Spanish Rice

Enjoy! We sure did! :)

Hollywood Bowl

Let me paint a picture...

Picnicing with some Brie Cheese, French Bread, Red Wine, Grapes, and pita chips and hummus with friends before a concert in 72 degree weather with beautiful hills/landscape surrounding you. You pick up your free tickets at will call before the show because you have an awesome friend, and go to your really great seats, and then listen to 1 1/2-2 hours of amazing classical music by the LA Phil, or another artist!

Jared and I have been to the Bowl 3 times in July, and 4 times in August so far. I am going 2 more times in September (I think Jared is a little burnt out on classical music, although we did go to Incubus!). We have actually been able to get there early and enjoy our picnic and wine before the concert this summer because Jared gets off at 6! It has been the best summer because we have actually had every week night to see each other and hang out with friends! I feel very lucky to have so much time with the person I love!

I also have to say, I am very impressed with the regulars that I see there. Every time I go, without fail, there they are. Now, these are not your average concert goers. No, these people are not even actually inside the establishment. These, my friends, are the people you see when you leave!

As you walk down the hill from the seating area, you begin to hear what sounds like a man singing "opera." It is not only a man singing "opera," it is a man holding up a dog puppet singing, with one hand on his mouth to cover up the fact he really can't sing without his mouth moving.

Just past the opera dog, you see bright flashing lights. Many hispanic women are selling those light up toys you find at theme parks. I have no idea how they make money, but the kid in the car next to us had purchased one!

Next, you head down the stairs to walk under the street, and you hear a saxophone playing. At first you think, wow, are there drums down there, too. Nope, just a man playing a sax and occasionally a key-tar to a soundtrack of drums. I think this guy actually makes money! People drop bills in there every time I walk by.

Finally, my favorite! You hear some people saying "ha-da" over and over again, and then you smell the delicious meat and onions on the grill. Any guesses...you got it..."Hot Dog"...for sale. They push around a cart with a burner under a cookie sheet and cook the most delicious smelling hot dogs and onions. Jared and I have yet to ever actually try one due to my health standards and the fact that it is usually 11:00 at night, but they smell good!

Now you know what to expect if you haven't ever been to the Bowl before. And if you haven't, please come and go with me sometime, because it is so much fun! Sorry if you don't live here...you are missing out!

Random weekend in San Fran!

Jared and I at Scoma's! A delicious Seafood Restaurant! We had Jean Marc as our waiter and he was from France and was hilarious!!!!!

It feels like we were just here, but that was a whole year ago with my brother and Beth.
We decided to ride along with our friends' Scott and Heather who were going up to take their engagement pictures. We had a great time! We literally just ate and walked around the city! My kind of vacation!

Cool House pic I took!
Jared and Guillermo climbing the hill to find a Geocache! This is a very fun thing to do in a big city! You should try it out! You look up the coordinates on your iphone and then look for the hidden item. You replace the item with something of equal value. The one below had a quarter...we decided not to replace it...But it was a thrill to find...but the next three we mapped we couldn't find...sad :(
This is the worst pic ever, but I found my first GeoCache!
Oh ya, my future home!!!! :) This neighborhood really made me want to move to San Francisco!
Cool old car on a crazy hill! We got our leg workout for the day for sure walking those neighborhoods!
Can you imagine being able to see Alcatraz from the top of your street!??
Jared and I at the end of the really cool street of amazing houses close to Fisherman's Wharf! Coit Tower in the background!

This is a picture that Jared took with coit tower in the background. Still have never been to the top of it! Maybe next trip!

We drove back Sunday night late...I wouldn't recommend this...we didn't get home until 2:30 am! But...it was a very fun trip! I love not having an itinerary when you only have a little over 24 hours in a city!

Thoughts from an article, "How to Read the Bible"

Here is an excerpt from an article on the Resurgence Blog..."How to Read the Bible"

Find the entire article here.

There are two ways to read the Bible. We can read it as law and threat, or we can read it as promise and assurance.

The deepest message of the Bible is the grace of God for sinners. The Bible presents itself this way. The laws and commands and examples and warnings are all there. Let’s revere them. But we can read them with this as our foremost thought: “Jesus obeyed it all. He died for all my failure. And now he is changing my heart. I can read this page of the Bible with hope in his grace.”

My thoughts pertaining to this right now...

I was chatting with some people last night and we were talking about implications of the passage in James 5 that states "Woe to you rich"... I am very glad I found this article because it confirms my thought that, yes, that statement sounds very weighty and possibly condemning the rich....

HOWEVER, when viewed from the standpoint of God's grace and Jesus's life, I know that I can read this passage with a promise that God is changing my heart on the use of my money VS. I am a horrible person because I am well-off compared to the rest of the world.

As my friend Jodi Smith put it, there are righteous rich and unrighteous rich, and there are righteous poor and unrighteous poor. God places us all in different economic categories, so no matter what category we are in, or think we are in, we must always be aware of how we use the resources He has given us, and be open for a change of heart on the issue! Let me know what you think!

Come August...Back to a Routine!

So I have realized that I am an old lady and like having my routine! :) I never thought that would be me, but I really like when everything is in order! Here is what is new...

1. Jared loves his new job! We are so thankful that everyone that works there is so nice and really loves what they do.

2. We are looking for a new car for Jared. Please pray that we can find the right one and not have to deal with too many scuzzy dealers! We had an interesting mix of people last night when we went to test drive some cars!

3. I am trying to get back into the swing of practicing! We have had so many people here that my routine has really been thrown off. It has been really fun getting to do so many things in LA, though. I will have to share my wealth of where to hang out in the LA summer soon!

4. I am playing a wedding in Newport Beach Saturday with Donovan, my guitarist. I am soooo excited!

5. Potential of playing in a flute ensemble.

6. Hoping August won't be too hot. We have already had some toasty days in our apartment. (85 inside=no bueno!)

7. We want to see friends in LA!

8. Getting ready for some auditions. :)

Monday, Monday

Today Jared goes back to work...this is a sad and happy thing...

Sad
1. I don't have him to hang out with all the time
2. We didn't get much time together alone bc we had so many guests

Happy
1. Money!
2. Jared is glad he is doing lighting on this project!
3. I am getting back to a schedule and routine!
4. Eating in! I am soooo sick of going out!
5. Alone time for myself and practice time!!!!!!
6. We will have Saturdays together until they decide otherwise!
7. Only one more person coming to visit next weekend!

As you can see, there are many more happy things in this than sad! Hehe!

Today, I am teaching lessons and have my Jazz Dance class at 6! It is so much fun! I have learned a lot already, and am hoping we get to learn a routine soon!

Santa Barbara pictures

Here are some pics of Santa Barbara as promised! 2 day one night trip made up for all of the Saturdays that Jared and I have missed spending together for the last 3 months! I guess I didn't realize how long it had been since we had a day together.
(Above) The pool and ocean were very reminiscent of our honey moon!
Dinner at the outdoor restaurant! Beautiful!
Breakfast on the Balcony! Sooooo delicious! Blueberry Waffles! :)
Very 007! When we pulled up I was like, I feel like I am in a James Bond movie! The entire place was like a Spanish villa and we felt like we were the only people there bc it was a Wednesday night!!
Happy in front of the fountain!


Leaving Bacara...sad :(

Long Time, No Blog

It has been a while...

I am sitting in my living room watching Layer Cake with Jared, his sister, and her husband (weird movie). I am researching flute and guitar music to purchase for my duo, and decided to check my blog. I haven't been on here in almost a month. To be honest, I have been away from most media except checking my email once a day because Jared and I have had guests in town last weekend and this weekend, and before that I was at my flute week at the Colburn School. After this weekend, we still have 2 more weeks of guests. Yikes! I think we might have gone overkill on inviting people this close together. I just didn't want anyone to come in August bc it gets so hot here. We are having a blast, I just don't have anytime to catch up on stuff here like practicing, getting stuff together for gigs, and teaching! (Not to mention pesky errands and to-do lists)

Anyway, Jared and I had a one night get away at the Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara on Wednesday night. It was INCREDIBLE! They had a steam room, pools, sauna, hot tubs, deep soaking tub, balcony with ocean view, patio restaurant that we ate dinner at with wine while we watched the sun set! It was such an amazing resort! I will post pictures as soon as I charge my camera! We are def going back and I HIGHLY recommend it!

Luckily, I have Mon-Wed to catch up on errands, clean, and practice before our next batch of guests get here. Our friends Mike and Catherine from Houston!

On another exciting note, Donovan (my guitarist) and I are getting some cool gigs coming up! I will let you know more when I solidify dates! :)

Also, sorry to all my LA friends who I haven't seen in forever! This summer has been crazy! I miss you...ya, you!

Open space available in my brain

Yesterday I drove down to Long Beach just to turn in my thesis! It was worth it! I am done with it, unless they come back with a million changes or something! But I don't think there will be many.

When I got home, I sat down on the couch and breathed a sigh of relief out loud. I thought about how I don't have to open the computer everyday to write or edit, and I actually felt the empty/available space in my mind (it was kind of weird!). No more stress or thoughts about the thesis. It had been a large part of my daily routine since January, and now all the sudden, it doesn't have to be! It was a relief, but at the same time left me with a bizarre feeling. The thesis had been part of my purpose, my everyday existence. I realized in that moment that I didn't want my to-do list or daily activities to be my purpose in this life.

So now that I have this "free space" I don't just want to fill it with something else to do, or expand the stress in another area of my life to fill the gap. I desire to fill that space, and have the other space taken over by a peace for the everyday and love for people. These two things might sound odd together, but God is trying to show me that I need to continue to let go of the selfish motives I have for a lot of activities, and focus my time and energy on the people He loves and cares for. I don't desire to go through life with my agenda, tasks, to-do's only to reach the end of life and realize I have missed the entire point. This is not to say that God won't give me amazing opportunities, fun things to see and do, etc. (he already has!), but I was not put on this earth to do whatever the heck I want, even though that is the message of popular culture today. (Thanks Rod Brace for writing Simplify, which I just finished reading). If you want to borrow this book, I will be happy to lend it to you! I recommend it for a fresh perspective on how you think about, process, and act in the world.
Thanks for reading!
:)

Done with Thesis!!!

Hello all,

I wanted to post that I just put my thesis in its' box and am going to turn it in on Monday bc traffic is too bad right now to go down to LB. I am soooo happy! There has been something to work on everyday for the past 2 months, and I want it out of here! It is hard to transition away from it and away from the computer and get back to practicing more, but hopefully it won't take me too long. I have a lot to practice for the Jim Walker class that starts a week from Monday! That is if the workers who are repairing the shower downstairs well hurry up and get the heck out of my apartment bc ours is leaking downstairs apparently! :)

Also, I am currently reading and almost finished with a book that was given to us a long time ago that I never read. It is called Simplify by Rod Brace. It is really interesting and I highly reccommend it! He poses a lot of good questions to individuals as well as communities of faith as to what we consider important and what we get too immersed in sometimes. I have been getting into reading more now that I have some time to enjoy a book without feeling like I should be practicing instead of reading. More thoughts on the book in another post!

Robin :)

2 years in Cali

So in a few days, Jared and I will have lived in Cali and this apartment for two years! Time flies!
It is hard for me to want to stay in the same apartment because in college I moved almost every year. I have the itch to move! I know it is a hassle and I don't really want to pack up boxes, but I would love to see what another area of LA has to offer. I am tired of our restaurants and wish we had more unique shopping and eating within walking distance. I also need to realize, though, that it is not up to me and that we should probably stay put until we have a better reason that wanting to move!

On another note, I am almost done formatting my thesis! Can you believe it! Thank you Jesus! I am definitely going to celebrate with alcoholic beverage when I turn that sucker in to the Library!

:)

Graduation Day!

Today I graduated with my master's degree in Flute Performance from CSULB!!! :) That's me with my awesome master's hood which I unfortunately had to return...rental only...

My friend Katie Feistel was there to support me! It meant a lot that she would take off work to come watch me graduate! Especially since she just went to UT to see her sister graduate last weekend. Below is me with my flute professor Dr. John Barcellona with his cool sceptor (an amazing teacher and why I went to this school, and below is me and Katie...I look like a giant in that cap and gown! Man, she has the hand on hip LA photo op down!!!).


This is me getting hooded to the right of that yellow circle deal
This was the coolest part of the ceremony! They spent so long positioning it!

Also, the guys who announced the names were like the guys you hear on movie trailors or game show announcers! They were incredible! Raaaooobin Laauuraaa Baaariiiient!!!! (Emphasis on the multiple letters and say in a deep voice...They made my day!)

American Idol Report

So someone, you know who you are, has requested a post about how American Idol was. Haha!
The most hilarious thing about this entire situation is that I banned myself from watching AI this season. And I actually stuck to it (except for the episode right before we went bc I had the email about getting to go, so I thought I should familiarize myself with the contestants.

So Katie and I went last year and never got in bc they were super disorganized. They promised us tickets to the 2009 finale. About a week before the finale, sure enough I had an email with a voucher for 2 tickets.
We showed up at 2:30 pm and there was no crazy line like last year wrapping 4 city blocks. There were only about 40 people standing around in groups.
We asked where we were supposed to go, and a lady looked at our voucher and gave us 2 real tickets! REAL! She told us we could hang out until doors opened at 3:30. We went to starbucks where we saw Melinda Doolittle from last season and then went in to the Nokia theatre. We looked at the tickets more closely and noticed it said ORCH row B....I know what that means! Second row!!!! Well, we walked up to the front freaking out and it turns out row B was row A!!! We were over to the left side of the theatre, but still!!!

It was funny to see the judges come out with one body guard per judge. Paula's body guard was holding on to her bc she was sooooo tiny and every time she shook someone's hand, she almost got pulled into the crowd. Haha! She was super sweet and was saying hi to everyone in the audience. Simon was also surprisingly nice to people too and him and Paula were chatting it up during commercial breaks. That new lady was super annoying though. I hope they cut her from the show!
Both Kris and Adam were amazing live. Adam didn't sound as high pitched and screechy as he does on TV and Kris didn't sound flat in person like he does on TV. So, basically I would recommend everyone going to see it in person! ;) It was a crazy production! Oh and I didn't mention Ryan Seacrest was a jerk. He didn't even make eye contact with anyone in the audience, and was completely stone faced.

We pretty much had a blast though!

Well, I hope that was everything and more of what you were looking for! :)

Anniversary

Yesterday was Jared and my 2 year anniversary!

We celebrated by going to Thai Dishes...a restaurant I had been wanting to try out! Their pad thai was delicious! Jared also got me some beautiful flowers and surprised me by setting up a piccolo savings account! I have been talking about getting one for a while, but just didn't know how feasible it was going to be. It will still take time, but at least I have a place to start! :)

I can't believe it has been 2 years already. 2 years of living in California and being married to the most wonderful man in the world! I know everyone says that, but I mean it! I feel incredibly blessed to have someone who loves me unconditionally, spends time with me, gives me compliments all the time, recognizes what I do for him, and did I mention he loves me?? :) Sorry if this is super cheezy....but I had to let everyone know!

P.S. The power was out for 12 hours yesterday, so everything had to be done by candlelight! If you know what I mean! Hehe! :)

Happy Memorial Day!

Hey everyone!
Happy Memorial Day!
We got back to LA last night and Jared is at work today. I am cleaning and unpacking and hopefully starting to work on my thesis formatting! I am done writing and editing content, I just have to format, which is going to be a long process...

I had a great weekend with my family! It was the first time in 15 or so years that all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents have been all together on my mom's side! It was great catching up with people and celebrating my grandpa's 90th birthday!

These are my grandparents...Grandpop and Grandmummy in front of Grandpop's birthday cake! He blew out all 9 of his decade candles in one poof without moving his head! Hehe! Aren't they adorable!


This is Grandpop making his speech at his birthday dinner. Brought me to tears...and a lot of other people. He commands so much respect!

Me, Grandpop and Grandmummy! :) They are the best! And he definitely does not look 90! They both still have great hair!

Brother Andrew and his girlfriend Beth

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Have a wonderful day off if you get one! :)

American idol

Hey-o!

Katie and I are going to American Idol tonight! Look for us!
We better get in this year! We apparently have 2 real tickets, however, last year we got turned away because they ran out of room, so we will see!

:)

no more class for now

I am officially done with class for my master's. I was not sad, not happy, just in between.
I still have my thesis to finish editing after I get it back from my readers, and I will be finished with that officially in June, and I am graduating May 29th.

I am looking forward to working on music that I want to play, entering competitions, and taking auditions. I get to play whatever I want everyday instead of working on music for a class or a concert at school.

I am a little sad that I won't have an orchestra to play with until I get a job or am able to sub or play with a community orchestra.

I am super excited to get chamber music stuff going this summer, though!

I am taking one day at a time and asking God what I should be doing each day! This will be a new thing to schedule every day from an almost clean slate....so I will let you know how it goes!

Tuesday

Hello all,

It is Tuesday on my last full week of class at Cal State Long Beach! I can't believe I am almost done with my master's degree! I am graduating on May 29th, and my thesis will be completed sometime in June, hopefully!
I am working on my second draft right now and am hoping to get it done today! My new philosophy is to take life one day at a time, and not to get overwhelmed by what the future will hold, or more importantly what I want it to hold. This is all stemming from the book, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. If you want to borrow it, let me know!

On another note, summer is already filling up with exciting things! We have three weekends of guests in a row in July, and ready for more!

In June I am getting ready for the Jim Walker Masterclass, which I am sooooo excited about!!!!

Peace!

More Recital Pictures!

Here are some more recital pictures! Enjoy!
I will have my videos on YouTube soon!