That was me

This night I had the spectacular privilege of attending the Timpview Marching Band Family Night. It was cute. Actually it was absolutely amazing, and I love the marching band and all the people in the marching band and I miss them and I miss doing that. I want to play bass drum again. Just for a little bit. I love those people. It was a happy realization for me to discover that I will be a junior in college at the same time as my female friends who are currently juniors in high school. Basically I just love everything. Yep. But mostly band.

It's never too late to be the way you wish you would have been.

And don't forget it. You can always become better, and smarter, and it is the mistakes in life that make us stronger, but only if we push through them, fix them, stop making those same mistakes, and move on. Life is like music, really. In just about every way. I'm feeling very metaphorical right now, and I'm convinced that were it not so late I could basically pull up a metaphor for literally anything right now.

The band banquet was wonderful. And all the tech went perfectly, for the first time ever. Mine and Kate's collaborative slideshow actually turned out to be pretty good. So did the book, but only like two people looked at that. Anyway, I feel like I did more for the banquet than I actually did, so I should probably go to bed. Just remember, the people who really did everything are named Maren Christensen. And also like Nick Walton and such. I love my fellow band council members. Best of luck to the new band council! It'll be fantastic, even without DF.

Fiesta on Cinco de Mayo

I just thought it was funny that for state band we played Fiesta, and it's Cinco de Mayo today. What a fun thing.

Anyway, my life just basically ended, but not in a bad way. We just had our very last ever Symphonic Band performance at state band today, and it was a beautiful performance indeed. I really can't say how much I love band, or how much it's changes my life, or how much I love all of the people in band, who have helped me to learn and grow so much that I feel like a completely different person than I was four years ago.

Sigh. And now it's over. But everything I learned will live on inside me forever, there's no way that I'm done improving. More importantly than helping me to get better, band has taught me how to get better, so I can continue doing it my whole life, and then help others to do it as well. One of the major reasons why I love people so much is because of band, and the love that people have shown me there.

Plus we did the name game in 1 minute and 22 seconds, which is the all time record.

My joy is full.

If Ever There Was a Time for Tears

That was very likely the last time that I will ever perform on the Timpview Stage. I'm leaving. Graduating. Hundreds of my brothers and sisters will I never see again. This was so beautiful, too. Everything was so perfect, and so happy, and so sad. I am of course looking forward to meeting new people and everything, and I know that I really will see these people again someday, but it's very emotional for me nonetheless. I just wish I could do something more for each of these people. Something that they will never forget, and will change their beautiful unique lives for the better forever. I wish that I could really show everyone how much I love them, but no matter what I do is not enough.

I can't give them a real gift by just setting up lights for their shows. It's not even enough to pour my soul into the music we play, so that our musical gift is the best it can possibly be. But what can I do? I'm so very small. Just a tiny dot in a world that billions and billions of people have lived and will live on. Most of them I will never be able to see, or help, but I want to! What can I do? I want to know.

Sometimes I think that what I've done is special, or that I do a lot for other people, but I don't. I feel terrible when I look back at how many people I could've helped, but I was too caught up in my tiny little world of my own to notice. I was too selfish, or too "busy" to help one of my eternal siblings in a time of need. And here I am again, being "tired" when there's so much work to be done--that needs to be done and needs me to do it.

My thought train sort of ran away from me there. Basically, I will very much miss the Timpview Band when I have to leave, and all of the people in it. And all of the other people that I've ever met. I even miss the people who I haven't met yet and it's driving me insane! I know that there are so many people out there who I know and love, but I don't know how I'm going to find them!

I'm so very excited to serve a mission. I want to find my brothers and sisters, and make sure that we can get back to the celestial kingdom together. 

One Away and One Back

Dr. Fullmer, the teacher who has taught me more than any other teacher at all of Timpview, will not be teaching at Timpview next year. This makes me sad for many reasons. First off, I feel extremely sad for all of the kids, particularly my younger siblings, who will not be able to have his as a teacher, because I have learned so many important life lessons from him. I really don't know what kind of a person I would be without Dr. Fullmer's influence on my life. He has really helped me to grow up and to become a better person. All of the little speeches that he would always give us about running for the roses, and building up our team, and loving each other will always stick with me. I really don't know anyone who can make people want to do and be better like he can, and I cannot express how grateful to him I am for the opportunity to learn from him, and I will do all that I can to teach those lessons to others.



Kristen Blair, my wonderful friend who as also taught me more than I could ever hope to be able to repay, is returning from Vienna today, and I am very excited to have her back in my life! She has been such a wonderful example to me, and has also helped me to become a much better person than I would otherwise be. We have many adventures awaiting us.



I have learned so very much from many people in my life, and I only wish that I could express how grateful I am, or that I could pay them back in some way. Because of them, because of the wonderfulness of how much I have changed and improved, I will do my very best to pass along the things that I have learned to as many people as will listen, because the things that the people in my life have taught me have been so wonderful that they should impact many many more people than just me. Thank you everyone, for teaching me and helping me grow.

Symphonic Tour Number the Last

The itinerary:


Monday, April 2 

7:30am  Everyone please help load the trailer (chairs, stands, percussion, heavy metal)

8:05am  GO TO CLASS!!!
Yeah, right........

12:20pm  Load buses

12:40pm  Meeting in bandroom (have your  itinerary on you and be ready to name everyone in SB)

12:50pm  Leave Timpview, sack lunch from home

2:30pm  Arrive Wellington; rest stop at park (snacks?)

3:00pm  Leave Wellington

5:00pm  Arrive Moab; dinner ($)

5:45pm  Arrive Grand CountyHigh School; section rehearsals

7:00pm  Full rehearsal

8:30pm  Meeting (snacks?)

9:30pm  Leave Moab

10:30pm  Arrive in Monticello; Check in at Inn at the Canyons 435.487.2458

11:30pm  Lights Out    

Tuesday, March 29 

7:00am  UP!

7:45am  Leave the motel; walk to the temple
It was soooo windy and freezing cold, so a very nice man let us into the church next to the temple and we ate in there.

8:00am  Arrive Monticello Temple; Breakfast (P)

8:30am  Leave the Temple, walk to MHS

8:45am  Meet the equipment truck at Monticello HS

9:00am  Clinic with Mr. Erickson

10:30am  Combined rehearsal with Monticello HS

11:15am  Leave Monticello; sack lunch (P)

11:45noon Arrive Blanding; Tour Edge of the Cedars State Park
Fun stuff

1:00pm  Leave Blanding

2:00pm  Arrive Goosenecks State Park
Wonderful place.

2:15pm  Leave Goosenecks

3:00pm  Arrive Montezuma Creek; rehearsal at Whitehorse HS

4:00pm  Combined rehearsal with Whitehorse Band
They were so very cool. I miss them.

5:30pm  Dinner (P) with Whitehorse students 

7:00pm  Leave Montezuma Creek

8:30pm  Arrive Monticello; attend "Wassermusik" recital
We went swimming.

10:30pm  In rooms

11:30pm  Lights Out

Wednesday, March 30

6:30am  Augen aufmachen!

7:15am  Leave Monticello

7:45am  Breakfast at Wilson Arch (P)
We didn't eat there, but it was a wonderful arch.

8:30am  Arrive Hole in the Rock House

9:00am  Leave Hole in the Rock

10:15pm  Arrive Green River; rest stop

10:45pm  Leave Green River

11:45noon Arrive Price; Lunch ($)

12:30pm  Leave Price

1:45pm  Arrive Maple Mountain HS; change into black

2:30pm  Symphonic Band warm up

3:00pm  Symphonic Band performance; Concert Band listens
I think we did well. :)

3:30pm  Both bands listen to Provo

4:00pm  Concert Band warm up; Symphonic Band listens to Orem

4:30pm  Concert Band performance; Symphonic Band listens

5:00pm  both bands load buses; both bands leave Maple Mountain HS

6:00pm  both bands arrive Timpview HS














I am going to miss band a ridiculous amount. This tour was so fun! And basically it just made me amazingly happy to be with my awesome and wonderful band friends. Especially Asher, Nate, Kate, Cami, Wendy, Mary, Allison, Macy, Ree, Nick, Christian, Kent, Bao, Etc... 


And playing frisbee with Joseph and Josh and people was awesome. And me and Ree chilling whilst the band rehearsed Elsa's, exactly like last year (we even talked about the same exact things.) And I enjoyed the bus rides, where we listened to Mr. Tippetts tell us stories for hours, and I told riddles to Cami and Nate and laughed to myself as they figured them out. And the good weather (well, mostly good weather) and just the wonderful happiness that band brings. 


And of course game night was glorious. Playing Indian Attack was absolutely classic. Oh band, how I shall miss thee. What a wonderful thing. 


There's really nothing like band tour at all. Nothing out in the whole wide world. 


I love adventuring, and I love people. 

Last Phone Pictures From My Old Phone

 Love These Three

 We set up chairs the fun way.

 Party after band concert!

 This is when we played upwards at Kat's house. 

 I'm fancy.

I love the Temple! Especially at night.

Some More Musics

Here's to Concert Percussion:

Anyway, the point is that I played at BYU today with the Symponic Band. It was actually pretty awesome, although my music is just a little bit on the boring side. But hey, that's life, right? Anyway, I love the symphonic band; we sound amazing. That's basically all.

Progress

Today at the Timpview basketball game, for which I was playing in the pep band, I managed to break my 6th bass mallet. Breaking even one is impressive, so I think I may have some kind of a school record. I like bass drum.

This Semester's Gonna be Good

Today I went to school, and then chilled in the band room all day. It was absolutely amazing, and I am very excited to repeat this every day of my life. I accomplished such tasks as polishing my solo, learning a four mallet vibraphone level, helping Wendy Nelson (who's amazing, by the way) fix the snare drum stand and the suspended symbol stand, getting another solo to play for solo and ensemble, discovering that the Burton grip is just as useful as the Stephen's grip, and growing in happiness by 5067 percent.

The Life of a Me

Once upon a time, in the land of Timpview, realm of the fierce Thunderbird, there lived a strange little man named John. There was an annual festival in this mystical cavern known as the Christmas Band Concert, and as it loomed closer John was enlisted by DF, the chief of the tribe of "Bandies," to collect a token from each of the  eldest children of the tribe, and he succeeded (for the most part.) He then put these relics into a public display so that the eldest bandies could be remembered by those still new to this life in Timpview.

Anyway, enough of that.

Basically the Christmas concert was insane. It was no easy task hunting down those baby pictures.

Also I tried to do all of the stage tech by myself, while playing music that I had never seen before. In fact, we had 3 percussionists sight reading at least 6 different instruments off one sheet of never-before-seen music for the last song. It was definitely a unique experience. Good thing my slide show was going so nobody noticed the music. :)

I actually really enjoyed that concert though. It was the Christmas concert! You just can't not love it. Plus Steve Call is now my buddy, and I really like his double-belled euphonium.

This is Probably the Longest Title That I Have Ever Had For a Blog Post, But I'm Not Sure Because I Don't Want to Check

Last night I was sitting quietly contemplating life when I received a text message from Karli Ellis inviting me to the Ugly Sweater stag dance. Psh. Why in the world would I go to something like that? It sounds lame. Yet, my unpredictable mind forced me into a trance in which I put on an ugly sweater, hopped in my car and made the all-too-familiar trip to Timpview. When I came to, I realized that I was in the midst of a pretty sweet party. I thought that nobody that I knew would be at said stag dance, but it turns out that some of my very favorite people were there, and I ended up having a very enjoyable time. (And of course I ended up helping put the tech away afterwards, but that's beside the point.)


Today I had a happy time. This morning I got to witness the lunar eclipse, and this afternoon I got a stylish haircut. I do have to say though that the highlight of my day was the band concert. I was kinda worried about it because my music was pretty difficult, but I ended up playing it a lot better than I thought I would. Except secretly I messed up a little bit on Fiesta...


Well, now I must start putting together the senior slide show for the Christmas concert on Tuesday. Fun.