Awesome
My super cute boss gave me flowers and Hi-Chews to celebrate my last day at work.
Now that Liz is gone, I have a bathroom to myself.
I finally found the last piece of our colorguard uniforms for this year-they look awesome.
I have an iPhone now! I love it.
I have watched all of the Harry Potter movies this weekend.
I tried FOUR new recipes this weekend, all of which were successful.
My new cooperating teacher is also a huge Yankees fan. We get along well.
Awkward
One of my coworkers on band staff told my new cooperating teacher to call me Whitesmoke. Uncomfortable.
I was in my backyard reading and this chicken ran across the lawn in front of me. I put my book down and tried to shoo it away. It ran at me; I screamed. Neighbor girl in the backyard adjacent to ours stared at me for a loooong time.
I ugly cried for far longer than necessary when Liz left.
Went to Lee's looking incredibly nappy and ran into six people I know. SIX.
I have had not one, not two, but three freakouts about student teaching.
I've been kind of a recluse this weekend, which has definitely cut back on the amount of awkward moments I usually stumble upon.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
Ending my Musical Ignorance
In an effort to no longer be useless at my coaching job, I am attempting to learn music. I know, "music" is a very broad term. And the more "music" I learn, the more I realize how much I am still completely ignorant about.
My freshman year at Snow, I had a roommate who was a music major, and another roommate who was a math major, but whose family is extremely talented musically. We would all sit in the living room and do homework together, and the two of them would often work on music theory homework. I vividly remember looking at one of their worksheets and asking, "what's that symbol that looks like a table on wheels?" I was referring to an eighth note. They dissolved into laughter, attempted to help me, and then gave up when I showed no modicum of understanding. I wrote it off, telling myself that I was good at English and that knowledge would be more helpful in the long run, anyway.
But it drove me crazy that I didn't understand what was on that page. I forgot about my stupidity for a while, but my curiosity was piqued again at band camp.
It started this week when I looked at a score of our band's show. I was writing down the letters of the different musical sections so that when our director tells everyone to "start at letter ___," I could tell my colorguard girls where we were starting in the routine. As I looked through the score, I became more and more curious about what the heck all of these foreign symbols meant.
I asked Brooklyn, my co-coach, to explain, and she very patiently taught me the names of most of the symbols and their meanings. Then Ben, another staff member and an extremely talented musician, entered the room and took over when Brooklyn (very understandably) became bored. We studied the score for about an hour; I learned about crescendoes, rests, measures, the lengths of notes, and the difference between flat, sharp, and natural notes. I left that night feeling both extremely bewildered and satisfied.
The next day Brooklyn taught me how to distinguish between notes and where middle c is located on a piano. I played numerous warm up exercises that are so basic the book they came in was decorated with kitten stickers. And I played them poorly.
Learning music is much harder than I anticipated.
Part of me wonders if this is kind of a lost cause; the people I work with have been studying and playing music for 20-30 years; many of the students in the band have been playing for over a decade. And I'm starting out at square one. But, I'm sick of my eyes glazing over when the rest of the staff talks about music dynamics and attacks, so I will press on in my quest to learn about music.
My freshman year at Snow, I had a roommate who was a music major, and another roommate who was a math major, but whose family is extremely talented musically. We would all sit in the living room and do homework together, and the two of them would often work on music theory homework. I vividly remember looking at one of their worksheets and asking, "what's that symbol that looks like a table on wheels?" I was referring to an eighth note. They dissolved into laughter, attempted to help me, and then gave up when I showed no modicum of understanding. I wrote it off, telling myself that I was good at English and that knowledge would be more helpful in the long run, anyway.
But it drove me crazy that I didn't understand what was on that page. I forgot about my stupidity for a while, but my curiosity was piqued again at band camp.
It started this week when I looked at a score of our band's show. I was writing down the letters of the different musical sections so that when our director tells everyone to "start at letter ___," I could tell my colorguard girls where we were starting in the routine. As I looked through the score, I became more and more curious about what the heck all of these foreign symbols meant.
I asked Brooklyn, my co-coach, to explain, and she very patiently taught me the names of most of the symbols and their meanings. Then Ben, another staff member and an extremely talented musician, entered the room and took over when Brooklyn (very understandably) became bored. We studied the score for about an hour; I learned about crescendoes, rests, measures, the lengths of notes, and the difference between flat, sharp, and natural notes. I left that night feeling both extremely bewildered and satisfied.
The next day Brooklyn taught me how to distinguish between notes and where middle c is located on a piano. I played numerous warm up exercises that are so basic the book they came in was decorated with kitten stickers. And I played them poorly.
Learning music is much harder than I anticipated.
Part of me wonders if this is kind of a lost cause; the people I work with have been studying and playing music for 20-30 years; many of the students in the band have been playing for over a decade. And I'm starting out at square one. But, I'm sick of my eyes glazing over when the rest of the staff talks about music dynamics and attacks, so I will press on in my quest to learn about music.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Birthday Week
I had such a fabulous birthday week. Every single day was packed with activities I love, whether it was hanging out with friends or being at guard practice every day, getting to spend time with my guard girls and the rest of the band staff.
Tuesday I got to go out with Colton, Chloe, and James for a birthday dinner at Chili's. We had a lovely time, and they gave us free ice cream for my birthday :)
Wednesday I celebrated with my family, and man do they know me incredibly well. I received cardigans, a dress, the movie Matilda, a 12 pack of Pilot G2 .07 pens (my favorite), and a pencil organizer filled with fruit flavored candy. It could not have been more perfect.
Thursday, my actual birthday, I spent all day at guard (just like every other day this week). My beautiful guard girls sang a rousing, horribly off key rendition of Happy Birthday, and the rest of the band sang their traditional birthday song as well. I ended the day going to an early premiere of "The Fault in Our Stars" with Brooklyn, Chelsey, Noelle, and Jessey, at which we ugly cried and had a wonderful time.
Friday I slept from 8 pm until 1, then 2am until 9. It was much needed.
And Saturday I watched Orange is the New Black with Jessey and ended the week with a campfire party with a bunch of friends.
I'm not quite positive how I ended up with such lovely people in my life, but I am extremely grateful that I did. 23 is shaping up to be an extremely good year.
Tuesday I got to go out with Colton, Chloe, and James for a birthday dinner at Chili's. We had a lovely time, and they gave us free ice cream for my birthday :)
Wednesday I celebrated with my family, and man do they know me incredibly well. I received cardigans, a dress, the movie Matilda, a 12 pack of Pilot G2 .07 pens (my favorite), and a pencil organizer filled with fruit flavored candy. It could not have been more perfect.
Thursday, my actual birthday, I spent all day at guard (just like every other day this week). My beautiful guard girls sang a rousing, horribly off key rendition of Happy Birthday, and the rest of the band sang their traditional birthday song as well. I ended the day going to an early premiere of "The Fault in Our Stars" with Brooklyn, Chelsey, Noelle, and Jessey, at which we ugly cried and had a wonderful time.
Friday I slept from 8 pm until 1, then 2am until 9. It was much needed.
And Saturday I watched Orange is the New Black with Jessey and ended the week with a campfire party with a bunch of friends.
I'm not quite positive how I ended up with such lovely people in my life, but I am extremely grateful that I did. 23 is shaping up to be an extremely good year.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
The status of my 2011 5-year plan
Today I had some free time and was going over an old blog I used to write in. One of the posts, written in 2011, detailed what I thought was going to be my 5 year plan. It included moving to Minnesota, attending bartending school, becoming a baseball statistician, having a child, and staying out of Utah. Past Katy was 1 for 5. Not an impressive record.
At that time in my life, I couldn't think of anything that sounded better than what I detailed in that post. Obviously, plans have changed, and as of right now, I can't imagine taking a different path than the one I'm currently on. Its only been 3 years, and although I don't feel like I've changed that much, I clearly have. I have a different set of motivators. I find happiness in different situations than I used to. And although now I feel like I'm doing well and am mildly successful, I know that 3 years from now I will be able to look back on this post and laugh at how much I didn't know.
As much as I say I hate change, it tends to happen without me realizing it's happening. I only realize how significant of a change has occurred when I look back in hindsight. And so far, I really like what I've changed into.
:)
At that time in my life, I couldn't think of anything that sounded better than what I detailed in that post. Obviously, plans have changed, and as of right now, I can't imagine taking a different path than the one I'm currently on. Its only been 3 years, and although I don't feel like I've changed that much, I clearly have. I have a different set of motivators. I find happiness in different situations than I used to. And although now I feel like I'm doing well and am mildly successful, I know that 3 years from now I will be able to look back on this post and laugh at how much I didn't know.
As much as I say I hate change, it tends to happen without me realizing it's happening. I only realize how significant of a change has occurred when I look back in hindsight. And so far, I really like what I've changed into.
:)
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Happy (NOT the Pharrell Williams song)
My great friend Ashley just started a blog, and her very first post asked the question of "What makes you happy?" Her blog makes me happy. If you want to check it out, go here. But it got me thinking-there are TONS of things that make me happy, simple pleasures in my every day life that make me smile every time. Because I'm uncreative, here is a list, in no particular order:
-Baking
-A well organized closet
-Sunshine
-My family
-Dani and Robyn
-My nephew
-My English clique
-Winning (Shallow, yes. Do I care? NOPE.)
-Analyzing literature
-My friends
-Phone calls
-Writing and receiving letters and thank you notes
-Late night conversations
-Driving with the windows down
-Hi-Chews
-Teaching
-Strawberries
-Puppies and babies
-Diet Coke
-Cleaning something in detail
-Going to bed early
-My work friends
-Spicy food
-Buying presents for people and making them open them early because I can't stand to wait
-Clean sheet night
-Walking barefoot in grass
Really, the list could go on for pages and pages. I've been really consciously trying to notice little things that bring me joy, and the result has been incredible!
-Baking
-A well organized closet
-Sunshine
-My family
-Dani and Robyn
-My nephew
-My English clique
-Winning (Shallow, yes. Do I care? NOPE.)
-Analyzing literature
-My friends
-Phone calls
-Writing and receiving letters and thank you notes
-Late night conversations
-Driving with the windows down
-Hi-Chews
-Teaching
-Strawberries
-Puppies and babies
-Diet Coke
-Cleaning something in detail
-Going to bed early
-My work friends
-Spicy food
-Buying presents for people and making them open them early because I can't stand to wait
-Clean sheet night
-Walking barefoot in grass
Really, the list could go on for pages and pages. I've been really consciously trying to notice little things that bring me joy, and the result has been incredible!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
BFFs
I vividly remember the most terrifying experience I had while attending White Pine. My friend and I were walking through the halls when a tall, pale, gangly boy wearing a bright pink backpack started running full speed down the main hall, his curly, unruly bangs bouncing on his long forehead. He ran around crazily, squawking and occasionally stopping to stare directly into someone's face, fall completely silent, and then loudly bark before running off again. I pressed up against the wall, hoping that I would not be the next victim. As the boy ran away down the hall, I murmured to my friend, "What kind of person would be friends with that kid?"
Turns out, I'm the type of person.
That kid was David Marshall, and that was our first encounter. Cut forward to our junior year of high school, when after school I saw David walking ahead of me, remembered that he had recently moved into our neighborhood, and ran to catch up and offer him a ride. He looked slightly taken aback, and then accepted. As we walked, I boldly started the conversation with an offhanded, irrelevant fact about myself that I was sure would be the clincher in our just-about-to-be-an-awesome friendship. David, astounded, shouted "Me too!" From then on, we were inseparable.
That first day on the ride home, David climbed into my sea foam green mini van and reached into the backseat, pulling out my colorguard rifle and examining it gleefully. He then proceeded to roll down the window and mercilessly fake shoot the group of seminary teachers walking home after school. Mortified, I shouted at him to stop, telling him that he was shooting my teacher. He excitedly turned around and shouted, "Me too!" before continuing his rampage.
Since that first awkward conversation and drive, David and I have been best of friends. He taught me not to take life as seriously and that it's okay to look and act stupid on occasion. I was forced to quickly got over my embarrassment of driving with him, and even forgave him when he thought it would be funny to write "Katy does meth" all over Sky View. His is one of the longest friendships I have, and I cherish it.
We're in very different places in our lives now, and are motivated by extremely different things. But I know I can always call him for a pick-me-up, count on him to buy me a drink at The Owl, and go on car rides talking about our futures. I'm extremely glad my 7th grade terror didn't keep me away from forming a great friendship.
Turns out, I'm the type of person.
That kid was David Marshall, and that was our first encounter. Cut forward to our junior year of high school, when after school I saw David walking ahead of me, remembered that he had recently moved into our neighborhood, and ran to catch up and offer him a ride. He looked slightly taken aback, and then accepted. As we walked, I boldly started the conversation with an offhanded, irrelevant fact about myself that I was sure would be the clincher in our just-about-to-be-an-awesome friendship. David, astounded, shouted "Me too!" From then on, we were inseparable.
That first day on the ride home, David climbed into my sea foam green mini van and reached into the backseat, pulling out my colorguard rifle and examining it gleefully. He then proceeded to roll down the window and mercilessly fake shoot the group of seminary teachers walking home after school. Mortified, I shouted at him to stop, telling him that he was shooting my teacher. He excitedly turned around and shouted, "Me too!" before continuing his rampage.
Since that first awkward conversation and drive, David and I have been best of friends. He taught me not to take life as seriously and that it's okay to look and act stupid on occasion. I was forced to quickly got over my embarrassment of driving with him, and even forgave him when he thought it would be funny to write "Katy does meth" all over Sky View. His is one of the longest friendships I have, and I cherish it.
We're in very different places in our lives now, and are motivated by extremely different things. But I know I can always call him for a pick-me-up, count on him to buy me a drink at The Owl, and go on car rides talking about our futures. I'm extremely glad my 7th grade terror didn't keep me away from forming a great friendship.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
awesome & awkward
Hi, I'm the worst blogger ever. I never have motivation to sit and write a personal essay type of blog post, so...I just don't blog. I think for a while I'll stick with list posts. For today: Awkward and Awesome.
Awesome
-I will be in Mexico in 36 days.
-I wrote 15 pages in the last 2 days.
-I started my psych clinical at Sky View and completely love it.
-I made the dean's list last semester!
-I finished my taxes tonight so I feel super on top of everything.
-Color guard starts soon!
-I turned in all my paperwork for student teaching and graduation.
-I got the high score on an essay for one of my classes.
-We had an informal high school friend reunion and had a blast.
-I survived my first parent teacher conference.
Awkward
-I tripped in front of my entire psych clinical class while I was being introduced.
-I deleted a whole series of videos that I was trying to edit and then had to confess my stupidity.
-I tried to teach myself several simple ballet moves. It didn't go well.
-I ran into a boy that I went on a few dates with at Snow and could NOT remember his name. He noticed.
-My professor keeps asking me very personal questions about my life and I don't know how to respond.
-I was walking through a hall and a guy in front of me rapidly whipped off his jacket and punched me in the face.
Things are good. I fully realize my "awesome" list sounds slightly pathetic and extremely nerdy. I'm pretty okay with it. :)
Awesome
-I will be in Mexico in 36 days.
-I wrote 15 pages in the last 2 days.
-I started my psych clinical at Sky View and completely love it.
-I made the dean's list last semester!
-I finished my taxes tonight so I feel super on top of everything.
-Color guard starts soon!
-I turned in all my paperwork for student teaching and graduation.
-I got the high score on an essay for one of my classes.
-We had an informal high school friend reunion and had a blast.
-I survived my first parent teacher conference.
Awkward
-I tripped in front of my entire psych clinical class while I was being introduced.
-I deleted a whole series of videos that I was trying to edit and then had to confess my stupidity.
-I tried to teach myself several simple ballet moves. It didn't go well.
-I ran into a boy that I went on a few dates with at Snow and could NOT remember his name. He noticed.
-My professor keeps asking me very personal questions about my life and I don't know how to respond.
-I was walking through a hall and a guy in front of me rapidly whipped off his jacket and punched me in the face.
Things are good. I fully realize my "awesome" list sounds slightly pathetic and extremely nerdy. I'm pretty okay with it. :)
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