...two months later...

Well, I'm back from San Francisco!  Where to begin, where to begin... I'M ENGAGED!!!!

Back up.  Let me tell you about my BASOTI experience before I start gushing about my wonderful fiance and how it all happened and how happy I am. :-)  This blog entry first; that blot entry second.

From June 25-July 25, I was in San Francisco, CA participating in the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute, which is basically an opera training program for young/emerging-professional singers.  It was a FANTASTIC experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!  I sang Susanna in 2 Marriage of Figaro scenes, Zerlina in 1 Don Giovanni scene, and the role of Nora in the full production of Riders to the Sea.  When I was preparing for the Riders role, I was REALLY challenged - it is a very difficult piece of music!  But after putting it together with the other singers and developing the character with the director, I fell in love with the piece.  I feel like I've really accomplished something, and I'm so proud of myself as well as the other cast members - we did it!

Our days at BASOTI typically went like this:

1. Wake Up
2. Check email
3. Read 5,000 emails about schedule changes
4. Take a deep breath, relax, and get going
5. Morning classes/seminars (Acting, Audition Prep, Alexander Technique, Italian/French Diction, Engaging the Public, The Business of Singing...)
6. Lunch Break
7. Afternoon Rehearsals and/or Voice Lessons
8. Dinner Break
9. Evening Rehearsals/Masterclasses/Performances
10. Lather, rinse, repeat...

I met some fantastic singers, made some great friends, and learned from excellent conductors, directors and coaches.  I was also able to get some experience and critiques by doing two aria performances.

Ms. Wise (my wonderful, amazing voice teacher) was there for the first week of the program.  I had 2 lessons with her in that first week, and I am SO grateful!  I've started working on a little bit of new repertoire and am loving how my voice is growing and becoming its own.  I'm anxious to get started back again in the fall (omg. in 2 weeks.) with consistent lessons.

Although we were incredibly busy the whole time, I was able to sneak in a few "tourist" activities every once in a while.  I will share some pictures now of my performances and sight-seeing adventures.

Susanna and Figaro, Act 1, No. 1-3

2 Zerlinas from Don Giovanni

Marcelina and Susanna, Act 1, No. 5

We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge! Twice!

Fisherman's Wharf at Ghirardelli Square for the 4th of July

Union Square

Muir Woods to see the redwoods on my birthday!

Katie (my roommate) and me at Muir Woods

I don't need no stinking title...

This blog post was unplanned. I just feel as though I need to write something. 

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and it was fun!  Jason and I went to Spring Mill on Saturday and met up with my Adam and Amy and Amy's parents.  We ate grilled pizza - a new concept, and quite delicious - then we walked through the pioneer village.  Adam and Amy brought their little puppy with them, and we had fun watching him play in the stream!  He was pretty nervous at first about getting in the water, so Amy gave him a little shove.  Once he was in the water, he realized how fun it was!  He's very cute.

We also spent some time at Jason's parents' this weekend.  We don't visit there very often, so it was nice!  Chad, Jason's nephew, had a birthday over the weekend, so we brought a card by the house, and ended up staying for dinner - pizza (this was a very pizza weekend for me).  Jason finally got the chance to show me his new motorcycle.  It's bigger than I thought it was going to be.  Makes me so darn nervous!  After the Spring Mill trip on Saturday, we went back to Jason's parents' for Chad's birthday party.  Ate some burgers and cake!  The cake was awesome!  It was a pirate ship - but unfortunately it started falling apart, so it was a 'shipwreck' instead.  Tasted good!  That's what matters :-)

This week has kind of been a blur to me.  I've started really buckling down on my music for BASOTI.  I leave in 22 days. omg. I'm NOT ready yet.  I've ended up having to download the recording of the opera that I'm in, because I'll never be able to learn it just pounding it out on the piano by myself.  It's very dissonant and atonal - not a pretty opera. :-/

Yesterday was my Mary Kay $1000 Day challenge.  It ended up being a $303 Day, but that's better than no dollars!  My Makeup 101 class that I was so excited about ended up only have 2 guests - but they were great guests!  We had a lot of fun playing with color and practicing makeup techniques.  I've got 3 more parties schedule for before June 15th - the end of this quarter - so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to reach Star Consultant status by then!  That has been one of my goals since I started my MK business.  I didn't think it was going to be possible, but I'm seeing now that I'm more capable of greatness than I give myself credit for!  I'm looking to add at least 1 more team member by June 30th, too!  Let's hope I can achieve that goal, too!

This weekend I have no solid plans.  I'm seeing a movie tonight - that new X-Men movie - and that's pretty much it!  Jason has a radio station event all day tomorrow.  It's a car show.  I may stop by, but Idk.  I'm hoping I get a lot of practicing done this weekend.  Goodness knows I need it!

That's all for now.  Ta ta!

What a week.

This has been a strange week.  It was supposed to be a 3-party week, and it ended up being a no-party week.  I'm a little bummed in that respect.  Let's go back.

So I started the week on Sunday (that's typically how it goes).  Sunday morning I woke up in Louisville at Charity's apartment and got myself ready to leave very quietly as everyone else was still asleep.  I peeled out of the L around 7:30am in order to make it to Evansville at 8:30 (central time).  My drive was OK, until I missed my exit and had to take the next one.  It wasn't horrible tho.  When I got to church, it was Graduation Breakfast time.  Nom nom nom...

After church was over, I went back to my parents' house, applied for a student loan, potted some plants, had my dad vacuum out my car and change my front brakes, and then left for Bloomington.  That night, I had the worst sleep of my life.  I was woken up several times that night by excruciating pain in my back, neck, shoulder and arm.  I've had plenty of back and joint pain throughout my life, but I've never woken up in the middle of the night because of it.  Especially not multiple times.  Finally around 2:30am, I just couldn't take it anymore.  I got out of bed, nearly crying, rummaged through my medicine drawer and found some Advil PM tablets that came as a bonus one time when I bought real Advil.  I read the box.  Sounded perfect, so I took two and drifted back to sleep.

After a full night's sleep, I woke up,still in pain.  I don't really remember what I did on Monday...  I didn't have to work, I didn't clean my apartment, I didn't look at any of the music for this summer, and I didn't go to the Monday Night Live MK meeting.  Oh yeah.  I got my Mary Kay shipment, packaged up everyone's stuff, went to the bank, the post office, and the party store.  Then it stormed.

I was feeling pretty weak and awkward on Tuesday.  Took my temperature and found that I had a small fever.  That explained all my back pain and my chills and weakness.  I was supposed to have a Mary Kay party at my house on Tuesday, but only 3 people RSVP'd - 2 of which had to leave early, and 1 of which was a maybe.  I canceled that party because I wasn't feeling well, and I knew if would have been unsuccessful.  My Thursday party canceled last week, and my Saturday party canceled on Sunday.  Aside from the fact that I get paid by TCC on Friday, this was a no-money week for me.

Yesterday was a mess.  Have you heard about all the storms in Central Indiana?!  Yeah, that was my life yesterday.  I slept in my closet on the floor listening to my boyfriend and two of his coworkers on the radio tracking the storms, tornadoes, and damages.  At 3:50 this morning I decided that since it wasn't raining, and the IU Alert system texted me an All Clear, it was OK to sleep the rest of the night in my bed.

Today I feel OK.  I didn't have a fever last night, but I didn't check it today.  I feel ok, except now I have this sore spot in my throat.  Also I forgot to mention the ugly poison ivy that I have on my arm.  Why am I falling apart?! lol

Here's hoping for a good weekend and an even better next week.

Things that must happen: Copy music, learn music, memorize music; book parties and call contacts; clean my bedroom.  Somebody please hold me to this.

Almost done!

Well friends, today at 12:30pm EST I'll be taking my German Diction final and will conclude my undergraduate degree.  Whoa.  After that, I'm going to go to Hobby Lobby and get some fab decorations for my mortarboard, then tomorrow is GRADUATION!! Can you believe it?!

I get pretty nostalgic and verklempt when I think about graduating.  I'm such a sissy these days.  Even though I'm not going anywhere (I'm starting grad school here in the fall), graduating is a big deal.  I also like to think about how a bunch of people in my family have graduated from IU, and that makes me feel super connected and almost historic. lol

So much has changed in my life since I moved into my dorm freshman year.  I think the core of who I am is the same, but I'm in a very different place now than I was then.  And I love it.  I love the place I'm at right now, and I wouldn't change any of my life experiences for anything!

Here's to the class of 2011!  Congrats, y'all!  We did it!

Love one another.

I'm just not OK with murder.

I never will be.  Taking the life of another human being, no matter how evil, is unacceptable and a despicable act.  The slain of Osama Bin Laden has been "justified" because he was an evil man with a terrorist agenda.  He was responsible for the murder and death of thousands of Americans after the 9/11 attacks, and he has been a looming threat to our nation's security for the last 10 years.  His death prompted a giant sigh of relief from the lungs of America.

But is killing another human being ever really justified?  Is it our place to play God and determine who lives and who dies?  Is it OK to kill one person in hopes of preventing the murder of others?  I just don't know...

My heart is being pulled about 3 different ways regarding this matter.

1.  I'm trying to be rational.  Human, I guess.  The murder of Osama Bin Laden will potentially save lives.  He was evil and needed to be stopped.  I've heard his murder compared to putting down a rabid animal - not an easy job to do, but one that has to be done for the safety of others.
2.  But, Bin Laden was NOT an animal.  He was a human being.  At one point he was some mother's pride and joy.  He was a child of God and someone whom Jesus loved and died for.  With his death, he has now been sentenced to an eternity of suffering in Hell.  I never wish Hell on anyone.  The world is desensitized to the idea of Hell these days, but Hell is serious.  I cannot rejoice over someone being sentenced to Hell - against his own will.  Had he died on his own that day, Hell would have been his sentence, yes.  But that sentence was given to him based on someone else's agenda.
3.  Maybe this is God's way of justice?  God is love, yet God is also just.  Because God is God, I cannot begin to fathom exactly how He works, nor can I predict his next step.  Perhaps this was God's way of achieving justice.  I just don't know.

Rather than dwelling on what happened, I'm trying to think about how I can respond.  There could be so many possible outcomes from the death of Osama Bin Laden.  I am praying for peace.  I am praying that the people of this world stop playing by the rules of "an eye for an eye" and start playing by the rules of love and brotherhood.

You can't overcome evil with evil, but you can change the world with love.

I believe in second chances.

So, I've been helping a friend out lately with a relationship issue.  I won't get into the details because it's pretty complicated, and it was a result of a lot of misunderstanding.  Basically everyone surrounding her who didn't know all of the minor details has been telling her to just break up with her boyfriend based on 1 particular situation; but after a 6 hour conversation with her, getting down to the root of the issue, where the misunderstanding happened, who is to "blame," and what made the situation blow up into a huge ordeal, we realized 1 thing:  Everyone deserves a second chance.

Our main reasoning for this conclusion was that it is the Christian thing to do.  Imagine if Jesus decided not to give all of us sinners a second (or third, fourth, or fifth) chance... We'd be sunk!  As Christians, we're supposed to live a life that mirrors the life of Jesus.  Jesus built his life on earth based on forgiveness, love, reaching the lost/unpopular/outcasts, and bringing the hope of new life to a world full of people who don't deserve it!  It's not our place to judge others or condemn them.  We should be willing (even though it is HARD) to forgive them and to give them a second chance.

That being said, it's important to guard your heart.  To the world, giving second chances might make you seem weak and like a doormat - letting people walk all over you.  But as Christians, we answer to God.  And God commands forgiveness.  He also commands us to guard our hearts.  Giving a second chance doesn't mean pretending like nothing happened.  That's ignorant.  It means forgiving the person and working with them to cautiously move forward and work to heal the wounds of the past.  My friend has set strict standards for herself and her boyfriend for moving forward so that they can maintain trust and respect with each other.  If those standards get compromised, then in order to guard her heart from being hurt more, she's got to cut it off.  For both of their sakes.

Not everyone may agree with second chances, but in my heart I can't help but give them.  I truly believe that is how Jesus calls us to react when adversity strikes us.

I love my job!

I love Mary Kay!  I love it so much.  I'm so happy I decided to become an Independent Beauty Consultant, and I can't wait until my business takes off!! I have so much fun playing with skin-care products and makeup, and I love the look on a woman's face when she sees herself as beautiful!

Last night, I went out to dinner with a few friends because my friend Lydia was in town from Hawaii!  She came back to Bloomington for some of her spring break!  She graduated from IU a year and a half ago.  It was SO good to see her!  I miss her like whoa...  It's great to see that's she's living her dream right now - she's working on her Master's in Theater, but she's also performing and teaching all the time!  Way to go, girl! 

After dinner, we were trying to figure out what to do.  There was a bonfire party that we were considering going to, but it was cold, so that didn't really sound appealing to any of us.  We didn't want to go dancing, because there was probably a $5 cover, and none of us really wanted to spend anymore money.  So, I had the genius idea of inviting the girls back to my place for facials!  Can you say impromptu Mary Kay party?!  It was so fun!

Lydia, Jenny, and Liz came back to my place, and I introduced them to the Mary Kay Miracle Set, and we also did the Dash Out the Door look!  The girls looked so fresh and gorgeous!  I was most excited for Liz.  She doesn't wear a lot of makeup, and she's not used to seeing herself that way, but she was really intrigued by the cream eye shadow!  And it looked GREAT on her!  I'm hoping to meet up with her later next week and have a color session! 

Most women don't spend enough time taking extra care of themselves and feeling good about what they see in the mirror.  True beauty starts on the inside, and when your outside matches how you feel, you can conquer the world!  I love providing women the opportunity to pamper themselves for FREE, even if it's only for an hour!  They deserve it!

I don't care what happens in my future.  I just know that Mary Kay is something that I want to bring along with me wherever I end up.  This is the best job I've ever had! :-)