Friday's at the office are great. Some are greater than others. Some are hilarious. Some are just slow and boring. Today was a mixture.
I went into the committee meeting today where all the counselors make decisions on appeals (like for track changes). Let me tell you, committee meeting has got to be the funniest thing ever. Unless you've been in a committee meeting, you wouldn't believe the stuff that is said. Not about students or anything related to what we're supposed to be talking about...just random stuff. I could write a non-fiction book and everyone would think it was fiction. It's that funny.
Well today there were only two appeals and I guess no one wanted to go back to work so we stayed and played "name-that-tune." I.completely.fail. Reason #1) They were picking songs from the 80s and 90s. Reason #2) Even if they picked recent songs, I never listen to music and wouldn't know those either. Case and point: They played Party Rock Anthem. Didn't recognize it until quite a ways into the song.
HOWEVER, I did get ONE song (title AND artist) right off the bat before everyone else. Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne. You wouldn't believe the looks I got for knowing that song and that song only. Thank you high school football game band music.
Showing posts with label band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label band. Show all posts
Friday, May 24, 2013
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Home, Sweet Home
I apologize for taking so long to update the story I like to call my
life. This entry is much more of a journal entry that some posts so it
could get a little boring. Apologizing again. Feel free to just scroll
through the pictures :)
I'd like to start off with an amusing picture of a man I'll refer to as Dumbledore. We were on our way to my birthday dinner at Panera Bread when we saw Dumbledore in the distance. From a distance, it seemed he really was Dumbledore, long beard especially. As he neared our car, we noticed he did have a beard, but the majority of it turned out to be his open, hairy chest. Gross. Magic.Gone.
Dinner was lovely. I branched out and got a turkey bacon avocado sandwich and some chicken lime orzo soup. I usually enjoy a ham and swiss on rye. It was delicious and I didn't even overstuff myself! A rare occasion for Panera. After dinner, we went to the fair to see Meredith march in the band show. Oh, how I miss band!! You can call me a band geek, I don't care. This show made me miss my saxophone and miss performing.
Saturday was the fair parade in the morning. Seth, Noah and I sat right on the curb and those people just kept throwing candy at us! I was like "can't you see how big of a pile they already have?! THEY NEED NO MORE CANDY!" Nevertheless, we took home quite the stash of cheap candy.
Ohhhhh Sunday, what a great day! One of the main purposes of this trip was to surprise two of my high schools friends, Nathaniel and Taylor, who just returned home from serving two year missions in South America. It was a tough secret to keep because both had been asking if I was coming back to Ohio before starting school...and I lied shamelessly multiple times. My brother ruined the surprise for Taylor and told him I was coming but I got Nathaniel good! On Tuesday, Nathaniel and I went to Cedar Point to ride the roller coasters we haven't ridden in two years.
The Tucker grandparents came and spent a few days with us!
We have a garden this year! There's all sorts of delicious veggies growing and I went and picked the first of the tomatoes.
I
went to Seth's Court of Honor on Wednesday...I may have forgotten to
take my camera out until he was walking back to his seat so this is the
only picture I got...
On Thursday I returned back to the west! Here's a glimpse of my homeland.
I met my dad in Salt Lake and we went to see Eli's BYU freshman picture be taken.
Friday morning Dad and I hiked the "Y" overlooking Provo.
Friday afternoon I was going to head back to Rexburg and then I thought "why am I going back to Rexburg when I don't have to work until Monday?!" So I extended my Utah stay for a few days and crashed at my Peru roommate, Noelle's, place in Riverton. Our Peru brother, Aleksi, just returned to America a few weeks ago and we had ourselves a little reunion. It was great to see him again and the only thing that could have made it better would be to have had Breet there with us! And Liz and Miguel would be icing on the cake, but they're still in Peru so it was slightly impossible for them to be there.
Inside joke with this picture. We aren't totally crazy.
On Saturday we went to the Brigham City temple open house with a bunch of the YSA from Noelle's ward. I hadn't been to a temple open house since the Nauvoo, IL temple was dedicated so it was a treat! And I even ran into an old neighbor who is now serving as a Sister missionary in the area.
It was a great trip. The perfect amount of relaxation and craziness. And I didn't even mention how the airline lost my luggage and I ended spending $100 on new clothes that Delta ended up paying for.
I'd like to start off with an amusing picture of a man I'll refer to as Dumbledore. We were on our way to my birthday dinner at Panera Bread when we saw Dumbledore in the distance. From a distance, it seemed he really was Dumbledore, long beard especially. As he neared our car, we noticed he did have a beard, but the majority of it turned out to be his open, hairy chest. Gross. Magic.Gone.
Dinner was lovely. I branched out and got a turkey bacon avocado sandwich and some chicken lime orzo soup. I usually enjoy a ham and swiss on rye. It was delicious and I didn't even overstuff myself! A rare occasion for Panera. After dinner, we went to the fair to see Meredith march in the band show. Oh, how I miss band!! You can call me a band geek, I don't care. This show made me miss my saxophone and miss performing.
Saturday was the fair parade in the morning. Seth, Noah and I sat right on the curb and those people just kept throwing candy at us! I was like "can't you see how big of a pile they already have?! THEY NEED NO MORE CANDY!" Nevertheless, we took home quite the stash of cheap candy.
Ohhhhh Sunday, what a great day! One of the main purposes of this trip was to surprise two of my high schools friends, Nathaniel and Taylor, who just returned home from serving two year missions in South America. It was a tough secret to keep because both had been asking if I was coming back to Ohio before starting school...and I lied shamelessly multiple times. My brother ruined the surprise for Taylor and told him I was coming but I got Nathaniel good! On Tuesday, Nathaniel and I went to Cedar Point to ride the roller coasters we haven't ridden in two years.
The Tucker grandparents came and spent a few days with us!
We have a garden this year! There's all sorts of delicious veggies growing and I went and picked the first of the tomatoes.
On Thursday I returned back to the west! Here's a glimpse of my homeland.
Friday afternoon I was going to head back to Rexburg and then I thought "why am I going back to Rexburg when I don't have to work until Monday?!" So I extended my Utah stay for a few days and crashed at my Peru roommate, Noelle's, place in Riverton. Our Peru brother, Aleksi, just returned to America a few weeks ago and we had ourselves a little reunion. It was great to see him again and the only thing that could have made it better would be to have had Breet there with us! And Liz and Miguel would be icing on the cake, but they're still in Peru so it was slightly impossible for them to be there.
Inside joke with this picture. We aren't totally crazy.
On Saturday we went to the Brigham City temple open house with a bunch of the YSA from Noelle's ward. I hadn't been to a temple open house since the Nauvoo, IL temple was dedicated so it was a treat! And I even ran into an old neighbor who is now serving as a Sister missionary in the area.
It was a great trip. The perfect amount of relaxation and craziness. And I didn't even mention how the airline lost my luggage and I ended spending $100 on new clothes that Delta ended up paying for.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Home, Sweet Home
Remember this post about me wishing I could see Eli play football his senior year of high school? Well my wish came true!!! My mom called me last Monday wondering if I would like to come home for a weekend and I was sooooo excited. I packed my bags Thursday night and went to SLC where I stayed the night with a friend. Friday morning I flew to Detroit where my mom picked me up at the airport and headed to Lima. I got to see Eli play football and Meredith and Seth play in their soccer games. I also talked to old friends, got a massive hug from my band director, saw the band, went shopping with Eli, ate way too much Panera, and almost played Monopoly with Seth. Here are some pictures from the weekend.
 |
| #42...I didn't get any good pictures of him actually playing... |
 |
| Couldn't go to a football game and not get a Shawnee Dog!!! |
Friday, April 15, 2011
Stars & Stripes & Saxophones Forever
I was a band geek in high school. Through and through. I even have senior pictures with my saxophone. When I went off to Idaho I brought my saxophone with me and played in the band for two semesters. Sadly, once I started working last fall I wasn't able to fit band into my schedule and I've missed it so much!
I started band in the fifth grade at Morgan L. Martin Elementary School in Green Bay, WI. Why the sax?? Well the year before me, only ONE boy decided to play it and I thought it would be cool to be different like him. Apparently a bunch of other kids thought the same thing. No worries though, I loved it all the same. That saxophone and I have been through a lot together. We moved to Ohio. We took a hiatus freshman year and missed each other so much we rejoined the band. We've marched outside in 100* weather with 95% humidity AND in 20* weather with whipping winds. We've marched through mud and dirt, in parades, at Disney World, and in state marching band finals. How far have we marched? Well one week of band camp was calculated to be about 26 miles of walking. Times that by 3 years of band camp plus the hundreds of hours outside camp that we march and I figure I've carried my saxophone over at least 200 miles...at least! We've played for Glenn Beck, Stanford Olsen, Jon Huntsman, Jon Huntsman Jr. (potential future president of the United States), thousands of audience members, and numerous conductors, judges, and church congregations. We've played classics, pep tunes, jazz pieces, and originals. We've had our shining moments as a soloist and shared the applause with friends. We've made about a million mistakes but shared in two million personal victories.
I never got a new saxophone. I still play on my student model from the 5th grade. Sure, I would have LOVED to get a nicer model. They're so much easier to play on and tone is automatically increased 100%. But it didn't really matter that much.
There's just something so satisfying about playing a beautiful piece of music. And not just from playing it well. It's sight reading it and sounding awful and then rehearsing for hours until finally it sounds how it's supposed to and you can actually feel the music.
There will always be songs that I hold dear to me because of band. An American Elegy is my absolute favorite. I played it my sophomore year of high school and to this day if I listen to it, I have to stop everything else I'm doing for 11 minutes and 20 seconds and just listen. I know every moving line, every crescendo, every swell and every moment of silence.
The other two songs are staples at the high school (and in many schools across the country). I will always love the classic Sleigh Ride and Stars and Stripes Forever. Whenever I hear them on the radio or played by another band I hum my part or try to remember my fingerings. I also can't help but compare them to how we played it because in my mind, our band was the best. IS the best. We played the originals!
I know I can no longer call myself a band geek because I go so long between playing and my scales go at half the speed they used to, but I still love my saxophone and I love playing every chance I get. Band gave me some of my best friends in high school and some of my best friends in college. How can I not be grateful for that?! I've also learned to make a top ten grateful list on days when things aren't going so well. In honor of Mrs. Meeks (my long-time director) I've decided to blog one. They don't need an explanation or even a good reason if you don't have one (but usually you do....), you just have to be thankful! Try making your own. It's just whatever pops in your head first :)
I started band in the fifth grade at Morgan L. Martin Elementary School in Green Bay, WI. Why the sax?? Well the year before me, only ONE boy decided to play it and I thought it would be cool to be different like him. Apparently a bunch of other kids thought the same thing. No worries though, I loved it all the same. That saxophone and I have been through a lot together. We moved to Ohio. We took a hiatus freshman year and missed each other so much we rejoined the band. We've marched outside in 100* weather with 95% humidity AND in 20* weather with whipping winds. We've marched through mud and dirt, in parades, at Disney World, and in state marching band finals. How far have we marched? Well one week of band camp was calculated to be about 26 miles of walking. Times that by 3 years of band camp plus the hundreds of hours outside camp that we march and I figure I've carried my saxophone over at least 200 miles...at least! We've played for Glenn Beck, Stanford Olsen, Jon Huntsman, Jon Huntsman Jr. (potential future president of the United States), thousands of audience members, and numerous conductors, judges, and church congregations. We've played classics, pep tunes, jazz pieces, and originals. We've had our shining moments as a soloist and shared the applause with friends. We've made about a million mistakes but shared in two million personal victories.
 |
| Band Camp 2008 (I'm on the left in the green John Deere hat) |
I never got a new saxophone. I still play on my student model from the 5th grade. Sure, I would have LOVED to get a nicer model. They're so much easier to play on and tone is automatically increased 100%. But it didn't really matter that much.
There's just something so satisfying about playing a beautiful piece of music. And not just from playing it well. It's sight reading it and sounding awful and then rehearsing for hours until finally it sounds how it's supposed to and you can actually feel the music.
There will always be songs that I hold dear to me because of band. An American Elegy is my absolute favorite. I played it my sophomore year of high school and to this day if I listen to it, I have to stop everything else I'm doing for 11 minutes and 20 seconds and just listen. I know every moving line, every crescendo, every swell and every moment of silence.
The other two songs are staples at the high school (and in many schools across the country). I will always love the classic Sleigh Ride and Stars and Stripes Forever. Whenever I hear them on the radio or played by another band I hum my part or try to remember my fingerings. I also can't help but compare them to how we played it because in my mind, our band was the best. IS the best. We played the originals!
I know I can no longer call myself a band geek because I go so long between playing and my scales go at half the speed they used to, but I still love my saxophone and I love playing every chance I get. Band gave me some of my best friends in high school and some of my best friends in college. How can I not be grateful for that?! I've also learned to make a top ten grateful list on days when things aren't going so well. In honor of Mrs. Meeks (my long-time director) I've decided to blog one. They don't need an explanation or even a good reason if you don't have one (but usually you do....), you just have to be thankful! Try making your own. It's just whatever pops in your head first :)
1) Clouds
2) Chocolate chips
3) Fresh cut grass
4) Spring flowers
5) Digital Cameras
6) Sweatshirts
7) Broken-in reeds
8) Inside jokes
9) Airplanes
10) The mailman
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The End of an Era
Sadly, this semester is coming to an end. And boy is it going out with a bang. Since I practically forgot I had a blog (lame, I know) I'll quickly update everyone on my life's adventures...
The University Band (in which I play alto sax) had a fantastically awesome concert entitled Patriots and Pioneers the week before the 4th. It was so amazing that I bought a CD for myself (to be passed on to my parents), both sets of grandparents, and my high school band directors. To see one song that we performed you can check youtube.com and search Aaron Pike, God of Our Fathers and I think it'll come up. That Saturday (the 4th of July) the band had the opportunity to travel to Huntsman Springs in Driggs, ID and play at their 4th celebration. Glenn Beck was the speaker that night and I got my picture with him backstage before the concert. Cool beans huh?!
Now, in the last week of school (aka finals week), I am working hard by studying, writing papers (which is what I was in the process of doing when I decided to update a blog...), taking tests, cleaning, and packing. Yeah, you can imagine the fun I'm having.
I GOT A JOB!!!!!!! Basically the highlight of my week. I am a part of the Student Ambassador program on campus that gives tours to prospective students this semester as a volunteer but in the fall I will come back as a PAID director. It will be a TON more work (20 hours a week at least) but I'm so excited!
Well my paper is calling me and my conscious won't let my type any more so I'm going to peace out for the evening.
The University Band (in which I play alto sax) had a fantastically awesome concert entitled Patriots and Pioneers the week before the 4th. It was so amazing that I bought a CD for myself (to be passed on to my parents), both sets of grandparents, and my high school band directors. To see one song that we performed you can check youtube.com and search Aaron Pike, God of Our Fathers and I think it'll come up. That Saturday (the 4th of July) the band had the opportunity to travel to Huntsman Springs in Driggs, ID and play at their 4th celebration. Glenn Beck was the speaker that night and I got my picture with him backstage before the concert. Cool beans huh?!
Now, in the last week of school (aka finals week), I am working hard by studying, writing papers (which is what I was in the process of doing when I decided to update a blog...), taking tests, cleaning, and packing. Yeah, you can imagine the fun I'm having.
I GOT A JOB!!!!!!! Basically the highlight of my week. I am a part of the Student Ambassador program on campus that gives tours to prospective students this semester as a volunteer but in the fall I will come back as a PAID director. It will be a TON more work (20 hours a week at least) but I'm so excited!
Well my paper is calling me and my conscious won't let my type any more so I'm going to peace out for the evening.
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