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!