Your Song by Ellie Goulding

I hope you don't mind,

I hope you don't mind

That I put down in words

How wonderful life is now you're in the world

We Wish You a Merry Christmas . . . French Horn Style

So it's been a while.

But as you can see, I am PRO at the horn.

And that is all.

Happy Christmas!

Holy goodness.

So it's been a while.

Life is great.

Let's see . . . recap on the semester (I know there's still a week left . . . but still)

#1. I am IN LOVE with UVU. No joke.

#2. I performed in Carmina Burana. And it was fantastic! So fun to play. Two of the three performances, I got to sit in 3rd chair in the 1st violins.

#3. I have the greatest roomates! I am so grateful to be living with such sweet girls! They make it easy for me to make good choices (not that I wouldn't otherwise).

#4. I learned the french horn! And I got a guitar for my birthday!

#5. I've been on dates! It is fantastic! There are a LOT of cute boys around.

#6. I'M GOING TO INDIA NEXT SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going with HELP International, a humanitarian organization. I leave June 14th. It is going to be AWESOME!. I'm so excited.

#7. I shot a pheasant last week.

#8. My roomates gave me a surprise party for my birthday. I know that was a while ago, but it was still excellent.

#9. I have LOVED teaching 8 violin students! We have a Christmas recital next week. It's going to be awesome!

#10. I love my ward with all my heart. I meet amazing people all the time. I am so blessed to live in this wonderful place.

#11. Aprendiendo espanol.

#12. I discovered that pepper jack grilled cheese sandwiches with avacados on the top are like heaven.

#13. It's a lot warmer in Provo than it is in Logan.

#14. I have the most incredible violin teacher. And I hate to brag, but I am AWESOME at my concerto! (No. 9 in A Minor by de Beriot).

#15. I get to attempt to play a really awful piano every week since I'm the ward choir pianist.

#16. Our FHE brothers adopted us to their apartment. I'm the fairy godmother. We watch Disney movies every Sunday night. And Christian got me a berry smoothie from Costco once. I told him my heart is his. That is all it takes. I'm serious. Haha.

#17. There are a lot of guys in the ward that I've gone shooting with. It is most excellent.

#18. Most likely, A- is the lowest grade I will get this semester. OH HECK. It is awesome.

#19. This is the first boring Friday I've had in a long time.

TonicSupertonicMediantSubdominantDominantSubmediantLeading Tone

MUSIC CLASSES ARE THE BEST!

On the Radio by Regina Spektor

This is how it works
You're young until your not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until your dying breath

No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone's else heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again

Story made short: I got a boyfriend. I had a feeling that it wasn't quite right even though he was a great guy and treated me so well. So, we broke it off. And I'm feeling a little melancholy, but I feel like the last three lines are super applicable to my life right now. And my roomates can attest that the "cry until you laugh" one might be applicable as well. I'm just figuring out life. And it is good.

Just learning.

Ellieeeeeee and Me!

Hola! This is me and Ellie. She goes to BYU and I start UVU on Monday. We're just hanging out in our kitchen.

We're really cool. Just in case you were wondering.

I am good enough! I AM! I AM! I AM!

I'm frustrated.

When I signed up for violin when I was 4 years old, I would never have been able to foresee how competitive it would be.

So, life went on. 16 years of violin lessons later, you think I would be able to be at the top.

Oh no. That's apparently not how it works.

So in April, I sent an audition tape to the Suzuki Association for my Violin Teacher Workshop I would go to that summer. It went badly, but my REALLY good excuse is that I had been practicing the wrong song all week. So it was no surprise when I got a letter saying that I would have to re-audition.

So, I go to the workshop, it's AMAZING. During the week I have all kinds of opposition: bike race down Provo Canyon makes me late, my car gets totaled, you know -- things like that.

After, I practice the songs they want. Hard. And I tape them a million times and pick the one that is SO close to being perfect it's crazy.

Today, I get my second copy of the exact same letter they sent me in May.

This is like geting the exact same letter from USU Music Department two years in a row. I'm not liking my accumulation of rejection letters. Not at all.

All these adversaries against me being the musician I want to be should make it seem like maybe music isn't the way for me. BUT, I, on the contrary, believe that all these adversaries against me only PROVE that I NEED to be a musician. I just have to work all that much harder. It's all going to work out. I know it's what I need to do.

Phew, I feel a lot better after writing that.

Brad Paisley, Suzuki, and let's sprinkle in a little KeSha, okay?

Life is good. REALLLLL good.
Seriously.

#1. I got a new car. It's the car I was talking about in my last post . . . we ended up getting it. And its SOOO much better than my last one! Yay!

#2. I've started a 6 year old on violin. And she's adorable. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching beginners! Love it! So much. I can't even contain myself. I mean, hello, it's a 1/10 size violin! It's adorable! And she's adorable too!

#3. KeSha has the BEST music to run to. I'm serious. It's awesome. Two miles today. That's a BIG deal for me!

#4. Family vacation! Half was a "stay-cation" and the other half staying at a cabin in the Uintahs. Part one included: "17 Miracles" (holy amazing!), boating with the Savages at Strawberry -- and catching myself a fish, a horse ride, Sakura Hibachi Grill/Japanese Steak House/best food I've ever had . . . ever, and Stadium of Fire. Brad Paisley! Woo! Part two included: the BEAUTIFUL Uintah mountains, so stunning!, catching myself another fish (no big deal), four-wheeling (LOVE IT!), and reading a bunch. Oh yeah, and the cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Love those.

#5. Have you ever seen Kid History? Well, you better go look it up. Episodes 4 and 5 are the best things ever and super quotable. . . It makes me laugh so hard I want to throw up. Not kidding.

#6. Dani and I got jellies. The shoes. For 3 bucks at Smith's. Need I say more? . . . bonus points, they were also purchases with Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. "Cheesecake Brownie." And I love Dani.

#7. I have such a good job, and FABULOUS co-workers. So fun to work with!

#8. I've been reading Fablehaven because I finally have time to read. Okay, not really, but I've been MAKING time. It's definitely a mandatory part of my life. Reading, not Fablehaven. Even though it's pretty dang great.

#9. No more waitlists! I got into all the classes I wanted to. Just got into brass techniques today. Yesssss.

Well, I hope you can see how great my life is.
Life is good. Reallllllllly good. Love it.

Penelope

It's been a week since my poor Chevy Cavalier was totaled.

Here's the story:
I stayed at my old roomate LeAnne's house last Thursday night. I parked my car on the side of the road, like any normal person would. I had a great time with LeAnne. We went to the midnight showing of Green Lantern . . . it was alright. We got back to her house at 2:30 A.M. We went to bed instantly.
Apparently, at 3:00 a drive who was high off of . . . Ambien? completely smashed into the back of my car. The police found him wandering around the neighborhood. They then tried knocking on the door of my roomate's house, but we were DEAD to the world.
Therefore, at 7:00 the next morning, I was awoken by LeAnne's dad who announced that the police called, my car was totaled. I was awake FAST. And sure enough, I no longer had a trunk. . . completely squished.

So, that was an adventure. I had to get my roomate to take me to my Suzuki Violin Teacher Workshop in Draper, and my aunt picked me up.

This week, we're getting all the insurance stuff taken care of. BEST news: I bought Penelope for $4600, and the insurance is covering $4200. Pretty good.

Bad news though, I found a PERFECT car, but when my Dad offered $4000 for it, they said they had already gotten an offer for $4300. DANG IT.

So, me, the innocent victim who parked her car like a normal person on the side of a street in a very calm neighborhood, one that even had SPEED BUMPS, is now in search for a car to replace Penelope. She was doing so well, before she was murdered.

Oh well.

I just keep reminding myself that a car is just a thing. It's just a hunk of metal.

And I wasn't in it!
And neither was anyone else, or anything important.

So, I guess I'm just inconvenienced. It still feels VERY unfair though.

No Life, Without Wife -- Bride and Prejudice

Oh my word.
Picture this:
A remake of Pride and Prejudice.
Set in modern day India
AND -- it's a musical.

So, all I'm saying is: watch this. Best song of the movie -- for those of you who are aware of the story, this is when Mr. Collins comes to visit . . . here he is "Mr. Kholi" and he says to the Mrs. Bennett figure that there is "no life, without wife" -- thus, the inspiration for this song. Kind of fantastic. Okay, REALLy fantastic.

Dust In The Wind by Kansas

So one of my FAVORITE things to do in this whole world is make music with my Dad. He plays the guitar, I play the violin. And he's been begging me for . . . forever to buckle down and learn the violin part to Dust in the Wind. So, thanks to my incredible Suzuki ear training I did as a child, I was able to pick out the part, and my Dad and I played. It was fantastic. I just love playing with him . . . and I love playing with Seth too! I just love my musical family!

In other news, I've been working on the guitar. A cute boy in Logan taught me some chords, and how to play "Hallelujah." And this week, I strummed out "Picture to Burn" and "Our Song" by Taylor Swift. So dang fun. Why have I not picked up the guitar before?

HOMEEEEEE

Well. I'm back in Heber. I've been back for a week.
And I really don't like it.
Granted, it'll probably get better once I start working.
But here's the thing.
I have zero friends anymore.
Okay, that's not entirely true.
Yeah . . . my families great and all.
But my Heber friends? On missions or working.
And all my other friends? Live two hours or more away.
So, basically, I have no social life anymore.
However, I've done some awesome things this week.
First of all, I met with my advisor at UVU. Things are coming along there.
Next, I bought $5 jeans.
Then I had some chinese food.
And then I went on a horse ride, and remembered how much I really like riding
I read Wuthering Heights on my trampoline
Then I mowed the whole lawn and got sunburnt (the good news is that it's tan today)
And today, I went to a rodeo, and I wore cowboy boots.

So, good things are happening in my life. Not so much socially, but I think it's going to be a good summer.

And so, here I am. The slightly more tan version of the person who moved back from Logan last week. I think I'm nearly caught up on my sleep from the past year. But I miss my roomates dearly. August 2010 to May 2011 were the BEST months of my life. Good things are most assuredly ahead. I hope.

Practicing the Bass?

Okay, so this just makes me laught. I got interrupted here so many times I just gave up. I actually did this a couple weeks ago, and let me tell you, I had a HARD time with the Bass. It's twice my size!

I have LOVE learning new instruments this year! Flute, Clarinet, Cello, Viola, Bass. It's been FANTASTIC.

That's all.

The We Hate Boys CD

Today was a glorious day. Actually, the whole past month has been pretty glorious. Sure, we've had school to do (and I turned in a pretty dang great research paper for English . . . just saying). Lately we been doing a bunch of stuff . . . four-wheeling in Hooper, baby ice-creams, taking cute pictures (eh, maybe I'll show you those later), making and eating delicious food . . . okay, I can't remember everything. But let's just say, I haven't been getting much sleep cause heck, it's my last week!

Anyways, today we lost LeAnne. Okay, not necessarily lost, but she moved out today. And it makes me kind of sad.

But before she left, we made sure to finish something we've being working on all semester.

A "We Hate Boys" CD.

Okay, is this the truth? Not really. Boys are pretty dang fantastic. But sometimes, you just need those songs that just feel so relevant to your life when things in the girl-boy department don't go as planned.

And I think we have a great selection. Granted, they are pretty much all country songs. Mostly girls. Here we go:

Mean by Taylor Swift
Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood
Best Days of Your Life by Kellie Pickler
Forget You by Gwyneth Paltrow (Glee Version)
That Don't Impress Me Much by Shania Twain
Misery by Maroon 5
Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler
Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift
You Lie by The Band Perry
Songs Like This by Carrie Underwood
King of Anthing by Sara Bareilles
The More Boys I Meet by Carrie Underwood
Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift
Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood
Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy by Chris LeDoux

So basically ladies, feel free to listen to any of these when you're having a "we hate boys moment." Okay, great.

Country Music

I guess hanging out with a couple cowboys has rubbed off on me. Let's see . . . George Strait, Chris LeDoux, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw, Reba, Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, and okay, let's be honest, Taylor Swift. And Johnny Cash. Heck, I love him! Interesting. I have definitely been on a country kick lately. And I'm loving it! It's some dang good stuff. Life is good. Been a little more western than usual lately. . . lots of cowboy time for me and Jen. Been shootin', watchin' some John Wayne (and my first Clint Eastwood), ridin' in trucks in the mountains, playin' a little poker, and of course, listenin' to lots of country music.

Man! I Feel Like a Woman! by good old Shania Twain

Well, first of all, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do. It's been great lately. Shown are several of the adventures I've had lately with the wonderful Jen and LeAnne. I'm going to miss them a ton. But, as Shania says, women have the "perogative to have a little fun." Thus:

Modeling by random buildings on campus

Practicing our cartwheels by the Temple

As Jen would say, "I need to find me a man with a pick-up!"


And here I am, trying to be seductive with a curly fry. Don't judge me.

And puddles? Well, Jen and I've got the rainboots for it. I feel like this picture is so climactic.

Action shot with LeAnne!

Let's revisit the puddles! I think yes.

Okay, this one requires a back story. The other night, a cowboy named Tyler wrote on the back of a cowboy named Garrett's truck: "Wyoming Cowboy, call me, {insert number here}"

Well, Jen and I thought it would be hilarious to write "Don't Call, I'm mean!" on the windows . . . sadly, it then started snowing and that washed the paint off. Shoot. It was a good effort.

I guess all this is is to prove how much fun I'm having here at college. And don't you worry, I'm getting some school work done too. But my roomates and I definitely have that so called "perogative." Thanks, Shania.

Life is Good. Real Good.

Honestly, no particular song comes to mind tody. I just want to relate how I am so blessed.
I got to spend the last week with my wonderful family.
I had my dad to myself all day on Thursday -- which was a big deal. I never get to see that man, he's so dang busy all the time, what with work and the bishopbric and everything. We went shooting and THEN skiing. I've never been skiing in my life. And it was a blast! I picked it up faster than I thought I would. I love my Dad. He just helped me up everytime I fell, and we just laughed together and enjoyed the beautiful world God created for us.
I got to go out to lunch with my Mom. We went to this adorable Italian place. Oh Italy. We both wish we could go back. I love my mom so much. As I've left, I've found that it's so much easier to talk with her about everything in my life. She made me a cherry pie because I was home last Sunday. Mmm.
Seth is Seth. He's a goofy kid. Asked a girl out to prom this week. Way to be. And I'm amazed at how he can just qualify to go to the first track meet, no big deal . . . and why don't we get 3rd place in an event while we're at it. He doesn't even have to try to be fantastic at athletics. Sheesh.
Rebekah is so cute. This week, they had a fashion show for mutual in her Young Women's. I pulled out my old dresses and helped her try them on. Oh goodness, she is going to be QUITE the catch when she's older. She's pretty and bubbly and, if you're in 8th grade at RMMS, you should definitely vote for her, cause she's running for 9th Grade Female Representative this next week.
Luke gives the best hugs ever. I feel sorry for you if you've never experienced a hug from my best 9 year old buddy. He is such a good kid. And quite the pro at the pogo stick. I got to go to the annual Primary Talen Show on Friday night. Holy heck. That is some GOOD stuff.
Cousins of course . . . singing Wicked with Alexis in my car, talking about boys with Dani, getting a big bear hug from Kyle. Good stuff.
My amigos: Liz + salsa + swings. Good times. Going to lunch with good old Joe. Dairy Keen with some holy cheese amigos -- Brittany and Camille. Love them.
And apartment shopping. A little overwhelming. I'm sometimes REALLY sad that I have to leave all the wonderful people I've met up here in Logan. But Ellie Warren and I spent hours on Friday going all over Provo. Just on a waiting list so far (#2 on that list, to be exact) -- and I know somehow it's all going to work out.
But I am definitely going to miss a bunch of people up here. . .
Hanging out with the cowboys -- and sometimes Tucker (though that doesn't necessarily mean that I enjoy having water balloons thrown at me and Jen at 1:00 in the morning . . . ahem).
The 4th floor boys. Oh goodness. They are great.
All the great people in the music department, and in my symphony (Alissa!)
Great people in my ward
And don't even get me started on my roomates. I feel SO lucky that I get along with each and every one of them. They are wonderful, talented, beautiful, intelligent, happy girls and I am going to miss them SOO much.

But it's a beautiful sunny Sunday. And only more good things to come. Life is good.

BEST.DAY.OF.MY.LIFE.

It was a spectacular day.
It started out nothing special. In my apartment in Logan.
Then I drove to Orem.
Why, might you ask, was I driving to Orem?
Well, I'll tell you.
I had an audition. An audition to get into the Music Program at Utah Valley University.

Let me explain something though. For . . . ever I have NOT even considered going to UVU because I figured that it was the place where people went when they couldn't get into anywhere else. Open enrollment you know . . . they take anybody and everybody. And up until quite recently, possibly today, I would NEVER have even thought I might be remotely interested in this school. It brings me back to the morning of the AP English test, when good old Anycia pointed to the UVU banner in the Concurrent Enrollment room and stated that we all had to pass or that would be our future. And we all laughed. Cause we figured we needed to get into a college that was a challenge for us to get into.

Well, it was a very ironic day for me. And it started out with me considering going to UVU.

Well, like I was saying, I got to Orem. I found the Music Department. And I proceeded to play my Bach and my Bruch for the String Coordinator. So I messed up a few times. I figured, okay, this'll be like USU -- she'll say she'll let me know what she decides soon. I foresaw my second rejection letter because of the memory glitches I kept having.

BUT . . .

"Consider yourself admitted," she said. She told me they were in DIRE need of Strings for the Music Education program -- they didn't have many. She would be absolutely thrilled to have me. It was possible that I could get a half tuition String scholarship. And would I mind her teaching me in the Fall? She really wanted to work with me.

Let's just say, I pretty much had a heart attack. I could not believe what I was hearing.

And as ironic as considering UVU sounds . . .

Planning to transfer there next Fall is even more so.

Heavenly Father opens doors for you. I testify that he has a plan for you. On Monday this week I was pretty sure my life was over. Friday of the same week, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to a program where I will be able to be AMAZING.

UVU, eh? Sounds good to me!

Dear Sarah Anne,

"Thank you for auditioning for the String Program at Utah State University. This year we had a very high number of excellent players, which made the selection process very difficult. At this time you have

NOT

been accepted as a string music major."

Well, world. I'm at a loss.

CELINE NEVER FAILS US!

Okay, let me confess -- Celine Dion makes me whole.

Doesn't matter what song, she is SO fantastic. Well, we are currently in love with "I Want You To Need Me", but "My Heart Will Go On", "The Prayer", "Because You Loved Me", and "To Love You More" are also favorites. We love her!

One day, my roomate Jenifer and I spent an hour watching YouTube videos of her.

And it was great.

I love my roomates!

Yesterday, we went on an adventure: to Preston, Idaho. Well, REALLY the adventure was to the state line. Have you seen "A Walk to Remember"?? Well, if you have, then you will understand why we had to go to the "Welcome to Idaho" sign, and put a foot on each side of it. HENCE: two places at once -- Utah and Idaho. Sort of.

The whole way we sang Celine songs.

She NEVER fails us! And neither do my roomates! Jen and LeAnne, let's watch sunsets more often!

TOMORROW. 10:40.

{Playing with my orchestra in Disneyland on our Performing Arts tour}

{Playing a Christmas song in the University Mall -- age 13}

{Playing at the Wasatch County Fair with Seth on guitar -- age 12}

{Trying out violins before deciding on Dmitri Svietlinski -- my boyfriend}

{Playing the violin at 5 yrs. old}

Do you know what I love?

I have played the violin since I was four years old.

And now, when I play, it's magic. I just know what to do. I have control over what comes out of my instrument. I can play whatever I want. And I love to perform.

It's been 15 years. I've played the violin for FIFTEEN years.

That's a long time.

TOMORROW IS THE DAY.

Audition round 2.

It's really competitive. My Cuban violin teacher Laura told me that there are MAYBE ten spots open. Maybe.

That's ten spots to get into the music program.

That's ten spots. I need only one of them.

I'm going to be a music teacher, an orchestra teacher. And I'm pretty sure you can't stop me.

There's a lot of pressure. It's ten minutes of my life and it decides the next few years of my life.

This is a big deal.

TOMORROW. 10:40.

Do you know what I love?

I Need Thee Every Hour

Today we laid one of my favorite people on this planet, my Grampa Haderlie, to rest in the Orem Cemetary.

It was a beautiful day.

It was a beautiful funeral.

But I think my favorite part was playing the violin with 4 of my cousins in the granchild musical number during the funeral.

I have so many cousins in the Haderlie side I've completely lost track. There are too many.

I love them all though. It was SO SO wonderful to see some of the cousins that I haven't seen in . . . years. Terrible, I know. The above picture is of my cousins Martha, Amy, Katie, and Alissa. We are all the same age and we hardly ever see each other.

And this song was so wonderul. I Need Thee Every Hour. One of my favorites. My Aunt Gayle wrote the violin part, which was BEAUTIFUL and I got to play it with my inspiration (Nate Shumway), his younger brother Taylor, then beautiful Amy and Alissa. Also, cousin Matt was on the bass. It was so gorgeous!

There was such a beautiful Spirit there.

It was just a beautiful day.

Ashokan Farewell

Today, at the age of 88, Morris L. Haderlie passed away.

My Grampa was so amazing. Over Christmas break, my family took my grandparents out to dinner. That was the last time I told him I loved him. He couldn't remember me. But he was one of those sweet old men that, in asking my name, would say "Who's the pretty lady over there?"

My Grampa was born in Star Valley, Wyoming and grew up working on the H-triangle bar ranch, our family's brand. He married Esther Ann Minzghor and had eight children, one of them being my dad.

He really like this song, Ashokan Farewell. My dad and I would play it all the time -- Dad on guitar, me on the violin. When we played it for him, he would usually get tears in his eyes. It just touched him.

So today, my mom called and told me the news. I cried as soon as she told me. And when I got back to my apartment I played this song in memory and as a tribute to my Grampa.

Let me reiterate. Families are forever. And I will see my Grampa again. Thanks goodness for the Plan of Salvation.

beginning the countdown

COUNTDOWN TO AUDITION: 19 days

Concerto No. 1 in G Minor 1st mvt. by Bruch

Bach Partita No. 3 in E Major

Kreutzer? No
Scales? No
Accompanist? No
Panic? Yes
I am genuinely concerned.