Treble Clef

Smells Like Christmas

2011-12-23T18:50:00.000-05:00

Christmas has a very nice smell, don't you think?

In fact, my house is smelling very Christmas-y at the moment.

It smells like cookies, warm, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

It smells like candles, holiday favorites. Fresh from Yankee Candle, North Pole, Red Apple Wreath, and Mistletoe scents.

It smells like sharp clean air that blows in from the outside and whistles around the house.

It smells like evergreen trees and wreaths.

It smells like a fresh hint of snow every time I step outside the door.

It smells like scotch tape, wrapping paper and multicolored ribbon.

It smells like the season, advent wreaths of purple and pink, and the the thought of hay in a manger and gifts of frankincense and myrrh.

It smells like Christmas :)

(images via google images)

CHRISTMAS CAROL CONTEST {season III}

2011-12-16T19:12:00.001-05:00

Yes I know I haven't posted in forever.

Life = crazy.

So be it.

ANYWAY......

This is my third Christmas blogging, and as always, I'm celebrating by holding a contest! A Christmas carol contest to be specific, but of course you already knew that from the title of this post, didn't you? ;)

This contest is broken into two sections. The first is naming the carol from which twenty or so lyrics come from, and the second is a bit of guessing of my favorite carols. Please be fair and use your brain, hymnals, songbooks, and your family to figure these out. Don't just copy/paste the line into google and see what comes up. That's LAME.

Please either SEND me your answers at TREBLECLEFBLOG@GMAIL.COM or COMMENT with your answers and I won't publish them until the contest is closed.

Whoever has the most correct by Christmas at midnight is the winner!!! They will have the chance to guest post here on Treble Clef and also have their button/ad displayed on my sidebar for one month. Let's get to it!

PART A:

(below are several lines from Christmas carols. Please state what carol they come from.)

I knew that God has sent that little boy to remind me
what Christmas is all about.
Oh, Christmas Carols, by candlelight
Twenty, ten, five and let it freeeeEEEEEEeeze!
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
And then with a roar they were both on their way
Each knowing they'd meet on some other day.
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
So frequently to vanquish all
The friends of Satan quite
The rainbow has an end,
And you'll be there my friend someday.
Hang a shining star
Raise, raise the song on high
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song
Oh, won't be the same
If you're not here with me
Nor thorns infest the ground
Christmas day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant light
Once bitten and twice shy
The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging
chimes of doom
In all our trials born to be our friend.
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Oh, some like it hot, but I like it
REALLY hot! Hee hee!
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly

PART B:

(guessing game!)

See if you can guess....

One or more of my top favorite RELIGIOUS carols

And also see if you can guess....

One or more of my favorite SECULAR carols

(All of these may or may not be answers to Part A)

---

GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY! :)

i desperately need another vacation

2011-11-30T16:59:00.000-05:00

i'm stressed out and tired. therefore i refuse to use capital letters. ha.

four days (including today) since i got back from vermont. three of actually not being on vacation.

and already i need another one.

sunday....

-got up early because of church, but was tired because of the late trumpet party saturday night

-went to church, sang in choir, actually listened to the sermon....just kidding, i usually do that

-went home and began to work on my homework

-was distracted in homework because people in my family decided to be loud talkers

-finally finished long boring homework

-put up christmas decorations around the house. wanted to find specific decorations, and of course, didn't

-went with my brother to game night with youth ministry

-played intense games of sardines, which was fun

-found out that vegan cheese is gross; therefore never going vegan

-was informed that i no longer had a joseph for my christmas pageant, obviously a major problem

-went home, began to decorate tree, but stressed out about joseph problem

-stressed out about pageant, annoyed that vacation was over, resulted in a very bad restless night

monday....

-woke up early, already very tired because of aforementioned sleepless night

-got ready for school, groggy, monday-after-vacation-ness

-went to school......nothing exciting happened....except for getting a pile of homework and a large inscription on my english teacher's board that said 'warning! intense work week!'

-went to jazz ensemble which was fun, except for the fact that i really wanted to go sleep the entire time

-went home for about two seconds

-went to church to have conversation about joseph problem, and semi-resolved it

-went and had good but hard trumpet lesson....brain was completely fried resulting in forgetting that fourths and fifths were not major and minor, but augmented and diminished....

-went home and ate yummy kale and bean soup whose broth was addicting

-did pile of homework.....worked hard.....went to bed at a reasonable hour

tuesday..........

-woke up late (6:00)

-was very very rushed getting ready for school and was out the door a few minutes later than usual

-had even longer day at school and was given about fifteen piles of homework

-went to jazz band, jammed out on trombone, had fun

-dashed home for about two seconds (literally)

-went to friendly's with my mom and brother for a florida trip fundraiser, goofed off with anna

-went to handbell choir and regular choir at church for very long, tiring rehearsal, not looking forward to homework when i got home

-got home at nine o'clock, the homework commenced

-worked crazy hard for a really really really long time until i had finished literally everything

-finally fell into bed at midnight

and so today was a long tiring boring day and now i want to sleep. bye.

Snowy Holiday

2011-11-26T07:54:00.000-05:00

It snowed right before Halloween, and there was still snow on the ground on the night of the thirty-first. It sleeted on Veteran's Day. (Much to our dismay, as we had to march in it....) And then it snowed on Thanksgiving. If the trend stays, we'll have a white Christmas. (Speaking of Christmas.....the holiday playlist is up, and soon I'll host my annual carol contest- check back for that!) Or, as my luck usually goes, it will be green on Christmas. And if I'm REALLY unlucky, it will rain. That would be a jolly Christmas....NOT.

Anyway, we got quite a lot of the white powdery stuff here in Vermont, and it made for some really nice picture taking.

Of course, it isn't quite as pretty now, a lot has melted. It's ok though, because I'm heading home today and I'd rather not drive in a bunch of slush. Driving in slush is awful. I wonder how much snow we'll have at home.....probably not as much as here because we're on the coast, and Vermont is landlocked. Whatever the case, I hope it stays.
Did any of you get snow over the holiday?

Happy Thanksgiving! (i.e. I'M BACK)

2011-11-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

NaNoWriMo.....let's just not talk about it. I've learned over the past few years that my life is just too busy to write a novel in a month. So let's not talk about it. Thank you.

But this means I'm back blogging I guess. It's been a busy month.....

First quarter of school ended at the beginning of the month and I finished with great grades, as always. We actually got a first look at our transcripts too, and I was very happy to see my 4.0 GPA.

I've been quite busy with music too. Marching band is officially over; we played the Veteran's Day parade, and had our final banquet. For the banquet, all off the seniors made the underclassmen special 'paper plate awards' and I got 'Most dedicated'. That's pretty cool. I also got this sweet trophy for being recognized as one of three of the best musicians in our band of over eighty people. I was extremely excited about that one. Jazz season has started and I'm playing trumpet in our top band and trombone in our second band. Fiddler pit band rehearsals will also be starting after vacation which will be quite awesome.

I've had some gigs to play for too. I accompanied a jazz piece at a piano recital, and got to play trumpet and flugelhorn at my church fair last Saturday. I'm working on a piece for an advent vespers service as well. I'm also directing my church's Christmas pageant which has made me EXTREMELY busy.

Anyway...that's what I've been up to. The short version anyway. So with all of that, it's been nice to get away and spend this week relaxing in Vermont. It's very snowy here, and cold, and very very quiet and chill. Excellent.

Oh and do me a favor will you? Go over to Horsefeathers and drop Olivia a sweet comment. She needs it. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!!

gold medals, halloween, hiatus

2011-10-31T12:18:00.000-04:00

very very quick post.

first of all, WE GOT A GOLD MEDAL AT MBDA MARCHING BAND FINALS. it was a totally epic show, and i'm loving walking around school with my three gold medals today. i love being in the marching band...and the jingly clanking sound that they make is very happy and bright. go gold!

today is halloween, and we just made SLIME in chemistry class. it was awesome. i <3 slime.

tonight i'm going as katniss everdeen from the hunger games and i'm going trick or treating with anna, lucy, and mackenzie :)

bwahaha. who says we high schoolers aren't allowed to trick or treat?

also, tomorrow is the first day of NaNoWriMo!!!! because this month will be completely devoted to my noveling pursuits, i will only be posting weekly updates on this blog. so, every tuesday, look for a novel update....and maybe even an excerpt! click on the button on the sidebar to view my page to see how i'm doing and become my writing buddy if you're writing this month too.

Love Me Some Beethoven

2011-10-24T14:46:00.000-04:00

I love my Owl City, my Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Train, PINK, and everything else.

But my heart lies with the masters:

Beethoven

Bach

Mozart

Brahms

Tchaikovsky

Haydn

Rachmaninov

and the other masters of the classical music.

Call me a geek.......but honestly, this is where it's at. These people were master composers, it's a shame so many people don't appreciate their music now, because it is amazing.

You ask someone "What's your favorite Beethoven symphony?" they will probably respond with either:

(a. The fifth because it's the most famous (especially the beginning)
(b. The ninth because it has the theme that EVERYBODY knows Beethoven for. You know....Ode To Joy? That theme.

Personally, my favorite is the fourth, but I adore the seventh almost as much.

The point of this post? Go out of your comfort zone and listen to some classical music. Just listen and let the music flow. Just try something new.

My suggestions?

BEETHOVEN'S FOURTH SYMPHONY

(a very short selection from this symphony can be found HERE)

HAYDN'S HORN CONCERTO No. 1

(First movement HERE, Third movement HERE)

TCHAIKOVSKY'S 1812 OVERTURE

(Full length recording HERE)

MOZART'S REQUIEM

(Short recording HERE)

There are so many amazing classical pieces, these happen to be four of my all-time favorites.
Check them out and tell me what you think!

Going for the Gold

2011-10-23T16:45:00.000-04:00

One more week.

Ten or more hours of ensemble practice.

Countless hours of the music and drill running through my brain.

Welcome to finals week.

When once again, I become caught up in an even more constant stream of marching band, to fix every single little detail so that it is completely flawless.

Sometimes, our band is so caught up in being perfect, it scares me just a bit. Winning is so ingrained into our thought process that any other outcome is just not there. We know what we need to do in this next week, and we're on the right track now, after scoring very very well at last night's show.

The standard that we must meet.

Probably the most important thing to our band director, the thing that we must uphold at all costs.

The only thinkable outcome, the one we must achieve to fully have had a successful season.

I welcome myself now, into a very crazy week as we go for the gold.

A Flurry Of Auditions

2011-10-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

Well! Auditions for this year's festivals are over for me (no more Hornpipe and Sweet Georgia Brown - thank goodness because I'm sick of them both), and the results are in!

DISTRICT HONORS:

Tuesday was my audition for district honors concert band. I've been in honors band for the past four years (that's every year since sixth grade...) and I always have a lot of fun and get a good chair. I thought my audition for this went so so much better than last year's so I was feeling good about it. And out of the thirty-five people in the district who auditioned on trumpet.....I was fourth best! Fourth chair = first part which is better than I was hoping for. I figured I would be playing second trumpet given the competition and because I knew I could have played the piece better, so I'm really happy about my placement!

JAZZ ALL-STATE

Last Friday (As I told you in a post) I auditioned for jazz all-state. The competition for this is HUGE as trumpet is a very very popular instrument, and besides, it's within the whole state, not just the district. As a sophomore, I know I'm a very good player, but because they only take eleven trumpets I knew my odds were not necessarily in my favor. However, I had been working on this piece since March, went into the audition feeling prepared, and ended up having a very very solid audition. Yay me. Anyway, I felt that even if I didn't get in, I really did do my best, and I would be OK with that.

While waiting for results, I did a little research on what the composition of the three jazz all-state bands are. There's a combo which is basically a lot of improv, a regular jazz band, and an honors jazz band. The best improvisier and soloist goes to the combo, and the other top ten trumpets go into the other two bands - the first five to honors and the second to regular. I figured that if I made it, I would be in regular jazz band but.......

I GOT THE FIFTH HIGHEST TRUMPET SCORE IN THE STATE!

Which means I'm in the honors jazz band, and also just about the fifth best high school jazz trumpet player in the state.

I am so happy.

Voiceless

2011-10-17T19:48:00.000-04:00

So....I like to talk. I enjoy it very much.

My friends say I'm a really good listener, and I guess I can listen fine, but I really like to talk.

Which is why I was not very happy at all when I woke up this morning and couldn't utter a sound.

My voice has been scratchy and cracky for a couple of days and it was evidentially leading up to this. Sigh.

I guess being sick for a few days plus epic raucous singing on the bus back home from auditions on Friday can do this to you...

Anyway, it was really weird not being able to talk....

It made things a little difficult talking to my teachers and explaining why I was absent last Thursday and Friday, and when I had to be fitted for formal wear for wind ensemble, well, that was an adventure. The parents kept telling me not to whisper, that I should be proud about being a size two, not be ashamed. I wanted to tell them that, no, being a size two is quite fine by me and I was whispering because I couldn't talk, but of course I couldn't because they couldn't hear me. :P

When I got home though, I had a bunch of work to do so not talking wasn't a problem.

I first started by choosing my music. I was in the mood for some Haydn today so I put on a CD with his Horn Concerto no. 1 in D major (LOVE), Harpsicord Concerto in D major, Double Concerto in F major for Violin and Piano, and Trumpet Concerto in E flat major. They were very nice pieces to listen to while working, and after listening to that I ended up putting on some Mozart. Classical musical geek, that's me.

One thing I had to do to study for my APUSH test tomorrow was to make about a million flashcards....they took me forever.

I also had to finish this satire poster in which I satirize Americans eating habits....that was fun. And my poster turned out great too!

Oh, I really hope my voice is back tomorrow, it's been a stressful day without it.....

Off To All-State

2011-10-14T08:54:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! I'm typing this while sitting on a bus to Augusta with ten other band geeks for jazz all-state auditions. I'm really excited, I've been preparing for this audition since March and I just want to go in, have fun with the audition and hopefully get in.

For the audition we have to play two major scales, a chromatic scale from low F sharp to high C, sightreading, and then the tune Sweet Georgia Brown, the etude to the same chord changes, and improv, so it's a pretty intense audition. This is the etude:

It's really fun actually. Very swing, very playable. It almost just plays itself which is pretty cool. Anyway I'm excited - Wish me luck! :)

PS- Jenny says "hi blog!"

*UPDATE* I'm on the way back from my audition - and it went really really well. I'm a very happy girl right now. Can't wait for results on Monday :)

PSAT, Fiddler, Florida

2011-10-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

Today has been an exciting sort of day.

I started it off with the PSAT. I wasn't nervous going into the test, and I didn't need to be because honestly, it was pretty easy.... I felt really really good about the reading and writing parts especially and the math was easier than anticipated. YAY.

The really exciting thing that happened today was that they posted what the musical is going to be for this year along with the cast list. Last year was Les Mis which was simply incredible and this year it's time for....

*drumroll*

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF!

I'm really excited. Fiddler is a great musical and I really like it so this should be a lot of fun. Bring on the pit rehearsals!

Another really cool thing that's been happening that I don't think I've told you yet is that I'm going to Florida over February vacation - with the band! We get to do some performances and workshops at Disney, and spend time at all the theme parks there, plus spend a day at Universal at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. SO EXCITED. It's going to be an amazing trip, and I've been feverishly fundraising for it. I made my first payment today, so it's now official. Florida, here I come!

Only bad thing today is that I've felt awful and sick. Of course this has to come up when I have tests tomorrow auditions for All-State and districts on Friday and Tuesday respectively and a show on Saturday. This better clear up, NOW.

What Exactly Are We Celebrating?

2011-10-10T17:25:00.000-04:00

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.

A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.

Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.

Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.

Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.

October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!

"Indians! Indians!" Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.

But "India" the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.

The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.

Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he'd been told.

He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.

The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.

Oh Columbus day. Please. We should not be celebrating this guy.

First of all, he didn't "find" America. American Indians had been here already for ages, and besides, Lief Erikson and the Vikings can claim right to being the first Europeans in the New World.

Also, Columbus was a downright meanie. The Arakawa native people were nice to the Europeans, and what did Columbus do? He killed them, raped them, forced them to lead his crew to find gold, and packed them up onto his ships to be sold into slavey back in Spain. And that's the nice way to put the truth. In short, Christopher Columbus began the widespread utter destruction of the Indies. Just the guy we want as the finder of or land right?

Sure, he gets us a day off of school, and it's an excuse for sales, but really?

This guy?

Not so much.

Peppermint Pleasure

2011-10-07T15:22:00.000-04:00

Ahh....the perfect thing to have after a long Friday at school, before a three and a half hour marching band practice in the cold.

Peppermint tea.

= love.

How I Became A Convict

2011-10-06T17:21:00.000-04:00

OK, so, this is where my dirty little secret comes out.

Shhh....are you ready? OK, here it goes....

i'm a convict.

i have committed an illegal crime against the United States of America.

In chemistry class.

Now, you probably are all like "WHAT?!" right now and wondering what awful thing I did in chemistry. Trust me, it wasn't that bad.

Here's the thing. I have defaced federal currency, which apparently is a crime. There goes my perfect record....

Anyway, the whole thing is sort of funny because it's all part of a lab we did this week in honors chem. It all started when our teacher rocked our worlds by telling us that by 1982, copper had gotten so expensive that they couldn't afford to make pennies out of it anymore. So they started making zinc pennies and just coat the outside with a thin sheet of copper. Crazy, right? I mean, WHO KNEW?

So we did a lab to figure out how true that was, and in the process ended up defacing several pennies.

FIRST- we sawed four chinks into the sides of the penny.

THEN- we dropped the pennies into hydrochloric acid

And lo and behold, this morning when we entered class, all that was left was a copper shell. The zinc was dissolved by the acid leaving just a very very paper thin sheet of metal with zinc dust still clinging to the inside. It was radical.

And that, my friends, is the story of how I became a convict.

*takes bow*

The Epitome of Monday

2011-10-03T14:54:00.000-04:00

I hate Mondays. I hate them.

Last Friday was a good day, all dressed up and ready for our marching band competition on Saturday. It was fairly warmish too, so I was able to dress in a more summery-fall fashion, with nice sandals and a floaty blue skirt.

Then Saturday came, and with it, the rain. It didn't stop us from practicing though....in the rain for two and a half hours before moving to the gym for the last bit. (We would have done the whole practice outside, but the show was going to be indoors because of the rain so we had to prep for that.)

The show itself was really fun for an indoor show! We stood in this one GIANT horn arc around the edges of the gym and had the colorguard stand in the middle which actually had a really cool effect. Now, we are the biggest band in the division, with 86 band members and 52 of them in hornline. (Remember, this is Maine....) And if that many people can make a huge wall of sound out on a field, just imagine for a moment the amount of sound we produce inside of a gym. Yeah....that's a lot of sound. We literally made people jump when we played our first note. It was awesome. And when it came time for awards, we found out that we had gotten 4 stars (FOUR STAHHHHS!) in all captions, which was a really really good score for this point in the season. We have three more shows to get up to all five stars so we are looking really good. Go marching band! And the celebratory late-night Friendly's run was good as always.

Yesterday was church and Olivia's birthday party which was very fun. We went to see the movie Dream House, which is sad and creepy but a really good movie. Dinner, presents, and cake followed and were very good too.

So it was an excellent weekend.

And then came today.

Today just started out badly. With cold and tiredness. School was not much better. I was given about a million projects and a ton of homework and the school was literally freezing cold. I was shivering all day long and had goosebumps all over.

Now onto a doctor's appointment and that evil homework.

I hate these Mondays. Grr.

About Me: A-Z

2011-09-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

This is a really cool thing that Hayley was doing over at her blog Fish Flakes (she said I could use it too), and I think it's a fun way to learn some random facts about me, your blog author. Feel free to use this on your blog too!

A. Age: Fifteen- I turn sixteen in February!

B. Bed size: Twin, and happy with it. I actually don't really like sleeping in large beds.

C. Chore that you hate: I really do not like loading and unloading the dishwasher, but especially loading it.

D. Dogs: I am allergic to dogs, so I can't have any. I'm even allergic to hypoallergenic dogs- how about that? It's OK though because I don't like them that much anyway. I've known some nice dogs but when I was little I got chased by this horrid little dog at the beach and it pretty much scarred me for life.

E. Essential start to your day: A hot shower. if I don't get my shower, I am not happy. At all. At camp though, an early morning swim in the lake works too :)

F. Favorite Color: I like purples and grays and blacks best, and I like some greens but not all of them.

G. Gold or Silver? Definitely silver. I only wear silver jewelry, I do NOT wear gold. I just don't like it as much. Plus, well, my trumpet is plated with pure silver so....that's just awesome.

H. Height: 5'0''. I'm a shorty :)

I. Instruments you play: Long list time.... trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, trombone, clarinet, regular percussion, mallet/vibes percussion, piano, and mandolin.

J. Job title: High school sophomore.....plus I babysit.

K. Kids: I really like to work with them so that's a big reason why I want to be a teacher, and I figure that I'll have some of my own someday too :)

L. Live: Maine, in the USA!

M. Mother's name: On blogger my mom goes by her initials - bwk.

N. Nicknames: My brother likes to annoy me to no end and call me Sal.... Oliva calls me Salamander, and I'm also nicknamed Shortie because I am literally the shortest person in our entire 86 member band.

O. Overnight hospital stays: I've never had to stay the whole night at the hospital, but I was brought in at like one or two (actually I'm not quite sure because I was soooo out out it) in the morning once and stayed until like four-ish because of a giant asthma attack I had at camp. Not fun.

P. Pet peeves: I hate it when people talk when I talk and don't listen to what I'm trying to say. Grr.

Q. Quote from a ~~movie~~ tv show: I can't think of a specific one right off the bat but I really enjoy the Sue Sylvester quotes on Glee :)

R. Right or Left handed: Right handed, but I can do most things competently with my left as well.

S. Siblings: One younger brother who is in 7th grade this year.

T. Time you wake up: On school days I am up between 5:30 and 5:40 in the morning - at least that's when my very jazzy alarm goes off and I usually get out of bed. Usually... On Saturdays and Sunday's I get up between seven and eight.

U. Underwear?: Yes, I wear it. Duh.....

V. Vegetable you hate: I like and will eat pretty much all vegetables, there are only two that I really hate which are eggplant and cauliflower, and I'm pretty sure that eggplant is a fruit... :/

W. What makes you run late? : Well, I hate running late so so much that I'm usually extremely early to everything, but if I'm late to something it's usually because I had a rehearsal or a doctor's appointment.

X. X-rays you've had: Um, in 6th grade I had x-rays done on my shoulder to see if I had fractured a growth plate, in 8th grade I had to have two done on my foot to check if my toe was actually broken (it was), and last year I had a couple of chest x-rays done, one was routine for my asthma doctor, and one because they thought I had fractured a rib.

Y. Yummy food that you make: I can make lots of yummy food, but I have a VERY yummy secret recipe for potato pancakes that my family raves about.

Z. Zoo Animal: I enjoy the crocodiles and the alligators :)

Hunger Games Fever

2011-09-22T15:18:00.000-04:00

First, I must ask you all a question.

What do you think of the book, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins?

Personally, I absolutely LOVE this book (actually all three in the trilogy) and if you haven't read at least the first one GO AND READ IT. NOW.

Now, if you know the Hunger Games, you'll know that the main character is Katniss Everdeen. Now, I like to think that I am somewhat like Katniss. Maybe I am and maybe I'm not.....but I really like her character.
This week was spirit week at school which has been a lot of fun, and today was book/movie character day, and I decided to be Katniss. It was a lot of fun walking around with a bow and arrow and a mockingjay pin and everyone being like "OMG YOU'RE KATNISS I LOVE YOU". The outfit was really simple too, I just wore black leggings, and an extra large nice black t-shirt that was belted at the waist, plus a cutout picture of the mockingjay pin plus a bow and arrow. It was pretty sweet.

Also, we've been writing a Hunger Games fanfiction in English which is a lot of fun and makes me love the book even more. Go Hunger Games!

Show Day

2011-09-18T17:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our first marching band show of the season. Squee!!!! Very, very exciting.

We started off with a three hour practice at our own field, all rocking our band pants, and marching band shirts. If you can actually rock band pants....which I don't think is possible.

Because they look very similar to this:

Ugly, right?

They don't look bad with the rest on the uniform, but during practice when we're not in full uniform....ugh. Who wants polyester bib pants?

Anyway, we had a long hard practice before loading up the buses and heading to the show, which was an hour and a half away.

We had about 20 minutes of down time before our warm-ups which unfortunately was spent in a ridiculously long bathroom line, but that was made better by seeing a bunch of my good friends from band camp. (YAY!)

After rushing back to the buses, we grabbed our uniforms - formal red and white jackets, black gloves and black aussie hats with large plumes. All of these were added to our black drill shoes and black bib pants. We got our instruments and headed to our warm-up area where we did block and some horn warm-ups before lining up for the show.

We went on a 7:15 so it was still fairly light, but there was enough evening dew on the grass to make it slippery, but no one fell during the performance. Our show was AWESOME. It went quite smoothly for a first show which means that by finals.....it will be epic. And with three stars across the board for an excellent start and once again having the best rating of any band there, it was a good show.

After, we went back home and went straight to Friendly's for our traditional late-night show-night dinner.

Very good times....can't wait for next weekend!

This September

2011-09-15T15:53:00.000-04:00

One half month down. It feels a lot longer than that.

It's kind of funny how fast you can slip into new routines, or at least I can. This week I've been moving around the school quickly, going to all my classes, feeling like I've been in each of them for a lot longer than I actually have. I already simply love some of my classes but there are some that I'm like 'oh snore' during.

Although it's felt really long, each day seems to go by really slowly, I realized just how much I have actually done just this first part of the month.

I wonder what I'll be working on next...

Here are some goals:

I think I can do that....don't you? Do you have anything YOU want to do THIS SEPTEMBER?

On The Field

2011-09-14T14:37:00.000-04:00

The countdown has begun! Our first marching band show is on Saturday and those of us in the band are cramming sectionals, individual practice before the weekend and trying to get better and better so that we can come out with a smashing good performance on Saturday night. In fact we have a full ensemble practice tonight and I can guarantee that it will be an intense one. When it comes to regular practices, the toughest one are the ones before the first show and the ones in the week leading up to finals.
I'm pretty sure I can expect a lot of yelling tonight.

Anyway, as the season is well underway by now, I thought that I might go into a little more detail about the show itself and give you the original music so that you can see how it's put together. There's only one word to describe this year's show, and that word is EPIC.

We open with 'The Chase' from National Treasure. The first ten measures are done at a hold and are extremely loud. It's very big, very showy and very awesome.

We then move into the next part of the opener - 'Interrogation'. This part is very driving. It's fast and it builds in a very intense way from light woodwinds to a huge horn chorale.

The middle and ending of the opener, plus the ballad, and the closer to the drum solo are all parts of the song 'Ben'. This song features two ballad-like areas and also some really intense, driving, fast parts from the main theme.

From 'Ben' we move into drum solo and after that finishes, we're off and running with 'Titan Spirit', our final song from Remember The Titans. Whereas a lot of the National Treasure music was intense and minor pitched, 'Titan Spirit' is in a major key and has a lot of really cool little sports themes and the way we're doing it on the field even features a big football 'HUH!' from the band. It's fun.

So, that's our show, just arranged for our band.
It is So. So. Epic.

Creativity

2011-09-12T18:54:00.000-04:00

Well? How do you like it?

I spent a good long time this afternoon redesigning Treble Clef, and I must say, I am very pleased with the results.

I was most pleased with the header. It was very fun to make and I love the way it turned out.

Please vote on the poll on the side to say what you think. I hope you like it as much I do. :)

On other creative topics, I've finished the first verse of Hallelujah for trumpet, piano, cello, and violin (recording to come soon) and have made a significant start in my Trumpet Sonata No. 1 (Prelude). I can tell that it will be great.

I also took some lovely moon pictures last night at a flashlight September 11th memorial. It was stunning, all the lights and the full moon rising above. It is time for light- we've been in darkness for too long.

What have YOU done that's

creative?

NEVER FORGET

2011-09-11T15:54:00.002-04:00

Ten Years

Ago.

On September 10th 2001, the American population went about their daily lives. Nineteen seemingly innocent people prepared for an attack. Two of these people were in my very own city. Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari ate their last dinner at the Pizza Hut, took money out of the Key Bank, and spent the night at the Comfort Inn. I shudder to think that these people, about to commit the greatest terrorist attack on the United States, were only a few miles away from me on that night.

September

11, 2001

The next morning, September 11, they boarded their flight from the Portland International Jetport and flew down to Logan Airport where they boarded American Airlines flight 11. This flight left at 7:59am The other seventeen terrorists did the same on their respective flights.

United Airlines flight 175 left Logan airport at 8:14am.

Six minutes later, at 8:20, American Airlines flight 77 left Dulles Airport in Washington, DC.

At 8:42am United Airlines flight 93 took off from Newark, New Jersey.

At 8:46am the north tower of the World Trade Center was struck by flight 11. The tower would crumble at 10:28.

Flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:02am. It would collapse at 9:59.

At 9:37am flight 77 slammed into the west side of the Pentagon.

At 10:03am, the flight 93 passengers make the ultimate sacrifice, take over the plane, and crash it into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Thousands lost their lives on this day, so many more lost their loved ones.

September 11, 2001.

Never

Forget.

Rainy Day Here To Stay

2011-09-07T10:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to fall, the season of rain. Cold rain. Here in Maine, in terms of precipitation, we have the season of snow, followed by the season of light warm rain and mud, and then the season of storms, and finally the season of cold hard rain.

It certainly is feeling quite fall-like at this time. There's a definite chill in the air, a crisp edge to the wind and the cold soaking feeling of the rain. None the less, I love fall. LOVE. IT. I enjoy these rainy days, I like curling up with a blanket and a steaming cup of cocoa while the rain pours down. In fact, that's what I would LIKE to be doing right now, but t will still be quite a few hours before that will happen. About 3 and a half actually. Instead I'm sitting in my chem offlab (otherwise known as my very infrequent study hall) typing up this post and freezing because this school is so darn temperamental in its temperature. When it's hot outside, it's scorching inside, when it's cold outside, it's like an igloo inside.

I really just want to go home.

Really.

This study hall is stupid.

And boring.

Get.

Me.

Out.

Of.

Here.

Please?

My other classes this morning were not so bad. Real Life was OK, and APUSH was actually really good and fun! I am liking the class a LOT more than I thought I would. French will be tedious as my last block, and this study hall is torturous.

Hate study hall. Hate it.

You know what? This post was supposed to be about loving fall, and rainy days and it turned into a tirade against study hall.

I apologize.

But maybe I should just end this post, and wish a was at home with some hot chocolate and stop boring you to death?

That sounds good....

Bye-Bye Summer, Hello Sophomore

2011-08-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

It's official. Summer is over, school has begun, and I am a sophomore. And you know what? So far it's not that bad. On our first day, sophomores, juniors, and seniors come for the first half of the day, and freshmen come the second half so we high schoolers only have a half day which is pretty cool.

When I got to the school the first thing we did was take school pictures and get our schedules and lockers and turn in all of our paperwork before we sat in the auditorium and listened to our principle talk. And our assistant principle talk. And the police officer talk. And the guidence director, and the athletic director, and our advisors.

A lot of talking was done. And it was pretty much the same thing they told us a million times last year except now we were adressed as sophomores. Yay.....

After all the talking and logistics were straightened out we got to run a mini schedule of all eight blocks (we have four each day, and each are 85 minutes) which today were only eight minutes long. All my classes seem really good and pretty challenging, and I know that they are really tough classes because almost all of them require special teacher recomendations to get into. I seem to have good teachers though, and it seems like the classes will be of some interest. On one day (red days) I'll have Advanced Placement United States History (from now on reffered to as APUSH-college level course), Real Life (1st semester) and Health (2nd semester), Honors Chemistry (junior/senior honors), and French III. On my other day (white days) I'll have Honors Math III (honors junior), Wind Ensemble, Chemistry Lab/Study Hall, and Honors English 10.

Now one of the interesting things last year that I did was at the beginning of the year I wrote a quick first impression of each teacher and each class, and at the end of the year I did a comparison on that and how I actually like the year and I thought I would do that again :)

APUSH

Wow. Seems like a really tough class, but the teacher seems good, and I think I will be learning a lot and that it should be pretty interesting as I DO enjoy history.

Real Life

Everyone says this class is really boring and useless, but I think the teacher is nice enough and he was talking about some cool stuff we'd be doing. Seems easy but pretty fun overall.

Honors Chemistry

I'm excited for this class! I love chem and I'm good at it too so...I like the teacher, she certainly is a talker, and she seems to know her stuff. Personally I think it will be easier than honors biology last year.

French III

Same teacher....pretty much same class....continuation on last year probably. (aka more French boredom)

Honors Math III

Not sure about my teacher, she's a bit...crazy. I hope this class is really good though, I've had really good math classes the past two years and I hope I learn lots! Thank goodness for more algebra and not trig!

Wind Ensemble

YAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! BAND!!!!! I'm so happy to be in wind ensemble this year and not concert band because wind ensemble plays really good music and my director says he's got some great stuff picked out so I can't wait for our first real class.

Honors English

I think this will be a really good English class - much much MUCH better than last year. My teacher seems really great and funny, and has a good class layout. Yay for English!

Well, there you have it. Back to school tomorrow for a full day and then a four day weekend - YES! Anyone else have their first day today? How'd it go?

Irene

2011-08-29T09:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was an interesting day because of the hurricane, and as you can tell, we made it through OK, because here I am typing out this post :)

It actually wasn't too bad here all things considered. For one, it really didn't rain much at all. There were some spurts with heavy rain, and a lot of light showers, but the brook didn't flood and the marsh didn't flood, and the little hill that my house sits on didn't become an island, so that was good. It WAS really windy though! I was glad that we had moved all of the porch furniture and the badminton net and stuff because if they had been out there....they would be gone. It was actually pretty cool and a bit scary to see the trees across the street wave and bend, and our weeping willow became much more like a whipping willow if you ask me. Also a lot of people around us lost power but ours just flickered several times but didn't go out for more than 30 seconds. I guess we were lucky!

My mom and I were able to make it up to church in the morning which was nice, although there were NOT a lot of people there at all! No more than thirty, and that's streching it. Our church was actually one of the only ones that stayed open too.

I got another good chunk of homework done, just a little bit left for today and tomorrow...

And my friend Lucy decided to have a hurricane party with me and our friends Anna and Mackenzie. We ate a lot of junk food, especially brownies and doritos, and because we're marching band geeks we watched National Treasure. It was really entertaining even though I've seen it a couple times before because Lucy was talking the whole time, Anna was like "Shut up Lucy I've never seen this movie before and I wanna watch it" and Mackenzie and I payed close attention to the music and shouted things like 'OOOH!!!! That's like measure twenty-five in our opener!!!' Oh what marching band geeks we are...

Anyway, it was a pretty fun day all in all, and it is beautiful out today which means we'll be able to have rehearsal outdoors as planned- which is good.

How did those of you also in Irene's path fare?

Whirlwind

2011-08-27T19:35:00.000-04:00

It certainly has seemed like a whirlwind this past week- hence my not posting which I apologize about. Must get better about that. Sorry. Anyway, there have been three big things happening this week.

The first is, of course, marching band. Naturally, I'm totally loving every second of it....well...not the seconds when my water bottle exploded but pretty much every other second. We have worked hard for several hours every day this past Monday-Friday usually around 4 to 9 in the evening. It's been a lot of fun to get back with the family (and oh what a crazy family we are) doing slides and flip-flops and jazz runs in advanced technique block, frantically memorizing music, marking and re-marking sets with chalk and soap, marching and playing and getting yelled at and singing and marching and getting yelled at again. It's been good. Really really good.

The second thing has been nowhere near as much fun. Summer homework. I've been working like crazy reading biographies, textbook chapters, articles, and novels, answering questions, doing reading logs and taking an AP practice exam. Thankfully, I am nearly done and should finish tomorrow or Monday. I have made great progress the past couple of days, for example I just sat down today and wrote a two and a half page essay on why John Brown was an influential person in American history.

Not cool.

Very very boring.

And finally, the hurricane. In a few hours Irene will strike my area, and who knows what's gonna happen then. As one of my friends posted on facebook today, 'I live in Maine! I should be worrying about moose attacks and blizzards, not hurricanes!'. Hurricanes are kind of odd for us out here, I mean we were supposed to be hit by Earl and Kyle last year but they both went out to sea, but Irene isn't going to do that. She's going to be tearing into here tonight, so tomorrow and Monday should be interesting. For those of you also on the East Coast where the hurricane has already hit or will hit, good luck and my prayers are with you! I will try and give you an update of how I am doing through the storm tomorrow, but if the power is out I'll have to wait on that :)

Back to Boot Camp

2011-08-21T19:28:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the day I having been waiting for for a very very long time. Since last November to be exact.

Why?

Well...there's this thing....called marching band...and I'm sorta kinda really into it....more like an obsession......and OH MY GOODNESS THE 2011 SEASON STARTS TOMORROW AND I JUST CANNOT CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT!!!

OK.

I got that out.

I am calm now. I am cool, calm and collected.

Kinda.

Anyways, marching band starts tomorrow and I've been preparing for it a lot recently. I've memorized most of the music, I'm totally pumped for the season, and my chalk and soap are ready to mark sets out on the parking lot. I am prepared to have a truly excellent season - my third totally awesome season. It's my third year with the marching band and I honestly think I become more and more excited with each passing year. I wonder what I'll be like before my senior year....

Two years ago our music was Holst's 'The Planets' and last year 'The Music of Pat Metheny'. This year we're going to be doing some movie music based on the film scores of Trevor Rabin. Specifically, music from the movies 'National Treasure' and 'Remember the Titans'.

(One of the awesome themes from National Treasure is the chase music which is used several times in the score)

^^ Listen, it really is quite exciting.

I guess with all that being said, all I can say is-

Marching band,

i'm ready!

Check It Out!

2011-08-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting, I've been really busy trying to work on my summer homework, I went to the aquarium in Boston, and spent the day with Lucy out on an island yesterday, so well, yeah...been busy.

But I did go and guest post on THRIVE today and so head on over to Lauren's blog, read my post, drop a comment, and maybe follow. I'm sure she'd appreciate it! :)

am i....crazy?

2011-08-14T18:22:00.000-04:00

It's not even the end of summer yet, but yet, for an hour yesterday this is what I sat down and did:

Yeah...maybe I'm crazy for thinking so far ahead, but then again, arranging is a lot of work and takes a lot of time....

Oh well, it only makes me really excited for what's to come in the arranging scope in the coming year :)

Summer Endings and Beginnings

2011-08-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

It's that time of summer when things are starting to end and wrap up.

Summer, before school starts, will be over in a couple weeks.

Our long days of sunshine shorten with each turn of the earth,

The weather starts to cool- or not. One day it feels like fall, the next the height of July.

Summer freedom starts to fly away as you remember all of your assigned reading and other homework.

It's getting to be that time where things are ending and the joys of summer slip away one by one.

Soon the flowers of spring and summer will dry up and wither away for the winter.

But I suppose it's OK that summer is slowly leaving because it means new things are to come.

In just over a week I'll be back with the marching band for our 2011 season, my third season with the band. The Planets in '09, Pat Metheny in '10 and I'm pumped for a great fall with this year's show 'The Music of Trevor Rabin' featuring selections from National Treasure and Remember The Titans.

Of course with the end of summer and the coming of marching band means the beginning of fall, my favorite season. And with fall, and August 31, comes the start of my sophomore year of high school.

Much as I groan and grumble about the beginning of the school year, I am excited to some extent. I've got some great new classes: AP United States History, Honors Math III, French III, Honors English 10, Honors Chemistry, and Wind Ensemble. Not to mention marching band, jazz band, this year's musical, and the Florida trip with the band in February. While I will most certainly be missing some people, friends who transferred for 10th grade, last year's 8th graders who aren't going to my high school for freshman year, and my now post-grad friends now starting college, I think it will be a good year.

However....

I'm hanging onto summer for as long as possible.

A Kotzschmar Concert

2011-08-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

Oh I just LOVE a good concert!

In Portland at the auditorium at City Hall there is the huge and beautiful organ called the Kotzschmar Organ and every Tuesday night in the summer a guest organist comes and plays a concert, and I got to go and see the one last night with my grandmother!

A man by the name of James (Jimmie) Jones was the organist, he was quite young and was VERY good, but the really neat thing was that a woman named Anita Cirba played along on many of the pieces on trumpet.

See the appeal this holds for me now?

Anyway, the concert was INCREDIBLE.

The organist was so so great and was very animated in his playing, which made him fun to watch. It was especially fun to see him glissando the really low pedal notes that are played with the feet.

This is him:

The trumpet player, Anita, was simply fabulous. She had beautiful tone quality and was just so nice to listen to. She played trumpet, fluglehorn, and piccolo trumpet, and I especially enjoyed listening to her play the fluglehorn. One of the cool things too was that she played a couple of pieces from the balcony instead of the stage which created a very cool effect.

This is her:

They had a great program too. Some Mendelssohn, Holst and Durufle, along with more contemporary composers. I really liked on of the pieces 'Tea and Trumpets' which featured very 'punny' title such as 'Trumpet Mandatory' instead of the usual trumpet voluntary. I knew some of the music too like Hovhaness' 'Prayer of Saint Gregory' and Durufle's theme from his 'Veni Creator'. I was so excited when they started to play the Holst piece though because it turned out to be the ballad from 'Jupiter' from 'The Planets'.

Of course, our marching band did the planets two years ago and the Jupiter ballad was my favorite part of the whole show.

It was very nice on organ and trumpet too...

All in all it was a fantastic concert and I would love to see them perform again sometime!

It's raining here today, but that's OK. Good for reading books and doing homework and stuff like that :)

Doing Nothing?

2011-08-08T11:23:00.000-04:00

Well this is certainly a change...

I've been crazily busy all summer and now I can just, well, relax!

(Or as close to relaxing as my life can get...lol)

Yesterday we took my brother to camp, Pilgrim Lodge, to a week that I have been to many times that is totally awesome, and that he should really love. That was fun because a lot of my friends who are a year younger than I am go to that week and so I got to see a bunch of them which was nice.

Last night the 25th anniversary concert of Les Mis was on PBS so, naturally, I had to watch it. The whole concert thing was really really cool but I didn't like that they skipped some parts and changed some of the words. It was still very good though and I'm glad I watched it because I needed a nice heavy dose of Les Mis :)

It's a pretty lazy day around here, I washed my trumpet, wrote a letter, memorized the whole opener to our marching band show, read a bit, did some of my APUSH (Advanced Placement United States History) summer homework (YUCK!) and then sat down to write this blog post. Not really sure what to do with the rest of my day, I'm kind of bored already.

While it IS nice to not be crazy busy...it is kinda boring too....

*random pictures*

Beach Daze

2011-08-04T19:47:00.000-04:00

Have I mentioned how much I love the beach?

The sand, the sun, the surf. Just perfect.

Today, our last day here, started out badly.

With rain.

I was not happy. I mean, it was our last day and I wanted to spend it at the beach of course!

We even walked in the rain to the post office so I could send a couple letters and got totally drenched. Yeah, that totally lifted my mood...

Thankfully though, it cleared off enough for us to want to get moving and get to the beach. It was actually quite a nice day there too. It wasn't too hot and although it was windy, it wasn't terribly cold either. The waves were also the best they'd been so we had a good time body surfing, especially at the end of the day.

After a while the sun came out too which was super nice as well.

Plus it was thoroughly pleasing that I didn't burn any more.

Speaking of my burns, they are still very very sore around my shoulders, and I really don't want to talk about the ones on my stomach....

Already splotchy they've turned a violent reddish-purple hue and are making it look like my tummy is diseased. Not pleasant, I assure you.

But you know, at least I'm tan in some places! That NEVER happens :)

We're going to head home sometime tomorrow I think and hopefully it will be a painless trip back and I will get to do a good chunk of driving too.

Upon my return home I don't have much to do for the next two weeks except do my AP US History homework, clean and relax (at places like the beach) until marching band starts up. (Oh yeah, maybe I should memorize my music too....)

Sounds like it'll be pretty low-key which is in direct contrast to how it's been!

Oh well, I could probably use the break....

I'm A Vampire Lobster

2011-08-02T21:03:00.000-04:00

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY:

do not use spray sunscreen as your base sunscreen layer.

I guess I should start at the beginning...

At midnight last night my family left or house and began our trip down to New Jersey as we do every August. The trip went very smoothly except for a bunch of constrcution in Massachusetts but whatever. It didn't slow us down much. My leg of the journey went well too and my driving was just fine. (Yay me)

We arrived here in Cape May around 9:30am and were on the beach by noon.

It was a great beach day! I hadn't been to the beach yet this year because I've been away so much and I was really starting to miss that salt water.

I spent most of that long beach day in the water where my dear brother decided it would be a lot of fun to constantly attack me....and also in my beach chair reading a very good book.

Now unfortunately for me, I used spray sunscreen as my first sunscreen application of the day. What I didn't know is that you should use cream as your base coat and the spray or cream to re-apply.

Basically my five or six hours in direct sunlight with spray sunscreen was not very good for me.

We came back from the cottage, took showers and as I was canging I saw myself in the mirror.

My skin is not the least bit attractive at the moment, let me tell you. It is all mottled between two colors:

Half of me looks like a very pale vampire, while the other half looks like an overcooked lobster.

And it's mottled, so I like have a burn on my arm and a couple random pearly white circles in the middle of it.

It is very strange.

I do not like it very much at all.

CURSE YOU SPRAY SUNSCREEN!

(other than that my day way very nice, thank you very much for asking)

beauty of photography (a guest post by Jessica)

2011-07-30T16:15:00.211-04:00

Photography can be addicting, if you're like me (and tons of other bloggers).

What you can capture with a camera is beautiful.

The angle of the camera, position of the object, and lighting can make all the difference.

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” -Aaron Siskind

photography. it's a way of reliving times with family and friends.

and remembering places you've traveled to.
Of course nature, people, animals, and birds are the most exciting things to capture, but you can also be creative with still life and cute objects.

You don't have to have the greatest camera out there. Or even a SLR camera. A simple point-and-shoot camera is all that you need if you have a love for photography.

taken with a point-and-shoot camera. nikon coolpix.

And while editing is you're best friend or right hand man with photography, straight out of camera shots can be perfect.

Photography... it's kind of my life.

Jessica - 15, brown hair, brown eyes. Sister, friend, daughter, cousin, niece, granddaughter, photographer, artist, Harry Potter lover, tree-hugger, sky-sorer. Photography lets me escape into another world where I can capture God's beauty and share with family and friends. Art lets me create things real and unreal, exploring imagination on a new level. I'm the type of person who believes anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Thank you to Sally for giving me the opportunity to guest post. And if you've enjoyed this, hop on over to my blog.

On A Mission

2011-07-30T14:39:00.006-04:00

A final round of applause please for ALL of our guest posters, I'm now back and blogging full time, which I'm very happy about. Guest posters you will be receiving a thank you email shortly, and I hope that some of you will come back to guest post again. I see that again we have gained a few more followers- up to 191 at the moment- WOW! Nearing 200!

As I think I had said, I was on a mission trip this past week working with the Maine Seacoast Mission in rural downeast Maine on home repair. My church group had two jobs, an interior/exterior cleaning and painting job and putting a skirt around a mobile home. I was on the skirting job, and it was a LOT of work. Fun though as our group tended to do a lot of laughing, and I mean a lot.

It was a great week and it actually went by quite fast which I wasn't so sure about, and now I'm actually home through Monday until we go on our family trip to New Jersey.

Anyhoo....before I depart I'll share so pics from our week on a mission:

art | guest post by jennoelle

2011-07-29T11:26:00.003-04:00

Art. That one word can mean so many things. It conjures up different images in the minds of different people. It depends on the person, the place, the method. But in the end, art is art, pure and simple and beautiful.

Art is capturing that perfect moment in a photograph.

Art is coloring away with a best friend to create a masterpiece of your own.

Art is practicing that music for hours no matter how tough it is at first.

Art is the burst of color that occurs when a firework explodes.

Art is stringing words together into something beautiful, be it a poem, song, story, blog post, or journal.

Art is a bud growing into a flower.

Art is settling down to immerse yourself in the lines of that classic favorite book.

Art is brush strokes that recreate a memory.

Art is listening to the music that water makes.

Art is scribbling down thoughts in a notebook just to get them out in a way that is sometimes easiest.

Art is pouring your heart out over the piano keys because sometimes that is the best way to express yourself.

Art is architecture that rises high against the sky.

Art is drinking tea as a pastime, comfort, and inspiration.

Art is putting together that favorite outfit with your own touch.

Art is light and color and God's creation.

Art is laughter with your favorite people.

Art is combining ingredients in just the right way to come up with something totally scrumptious.

Art is editing that photo to bring out the best of it.

Art is relaxing, and thinking, and feeling, and watching.

Art is sketching rough words and pictures to form something unique and special.

Art is traveling the world in search of an adventure and yet realizing you still have so much ground to tread.

Art is possibility-endless, breathtaking, personally-expressive, creatively original magic.

Art is beautiful.

__________________________________________________________________________________

I'm the girl with a thousand faces, a thousand nicknames, and a million dreams. I seek adventure and friendship and laughter wherever I can, and then afterward I seek books and coziness and smiles. I love this life God has given me, and my imagination is my best friend. I'm the girl who almost always has something to say, and when I don't or can't, I write to express myself, like I do over at Unoriginal Originality. I intend to live for the sole glory of my Savior. I'm Jennoelle. But you can call me Jenn.

the beauty of nature (a guest post by janet)

2011-07-26T12:29:00.000-04:00

Nature is a beautiful place. We don't always think much of it though. To some people, nature means bugs, ticks, and dirt. Why not think of the positives though? Lovely flowers, adorable animals, and fresh air.

I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. ~William Hazlitt

Even if we spend time in nature, we often overlook the small things - the little things that truly make our world beautiful. A single blade of grass, a small rose petal, a tiny red ladybug; all are beautiful in their own way.

These little things come together to form our beautiful world. Next time you take a walk outside, instead of just walking around not paying attention, look. Look at the details. Look at that blade of grass, that petal, that ladybug, and think of how extraordinary our little world is.

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. ~Osho

Enjoy the sweet sound of birds chirping, the wonderful cool breeze,the bright shining sun.

Sit awhile on the soft green grass.

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment. ~Jane Austen

Gaze at the rainbow of colors: warm red, vibrant orange, bright yellow, cool green, deep blue, and my personal favorite, a light, soft purple.

Enjoy for a while God's beautiful creation.

Thank you Sally for letting me guest post on your lovely blog :)

About Janet: I'm quiet and shy, with a passion for photography. I always try to keep my camera with me and I photograph almost everything I see. I'm an aspiring photographer and try to improve my photography everyday by photographing different things. I love cheerleading, running, blogging, reading, and much, much more! But that's just a snapshot of my life :) Visit my blog here to learn more!

music is... {guest post by Jocee}

2011-07-25T19:33:00.001-04:00

the emotions that cannot be expressed through words

a desire that is too sacred to be uttered

a heart's song...it can be joyous

a whole new world with caverns that have yet to be explored
my is more than my life. music is me.

Just a single note can instigate a feeling within you and it can change your point of view on something. It can turn the tables. It can put you in someone's shoes that you may not have wanted to be in, but it did anyway.
I think it's very interesting how people may say that music is their life, and they may have a band or they may play an instrument, and when you take time out of your day to listen to them, they start playing and all you hear is noise. Pure noise. It may be the style of music that they're playing, or it may be the talent of the performer themselves.
Sometimes the style of music you listen to changes the most in your teen years. You may be a ballerina lover, who listens to the soundtrack of Swan Lake daily, and then you may suddenly switch to heavy metal. Whoa. What happened there?
And then music styles can change drastically in the parenting years. They may listen to the latest hits to impress their teens, or they may listen to the oldies. You know, the 1990's, early 2000's ;)
For me, I'm a consistent lover of soundtrack {major John Williams fan over here, oh yeah!!} and a genre that can only be explained if you listened to it. It's the Jocee genre ;) But mostly, the music I listen to depends on my mood.
Happy ~ "Something in the Water" Brooke Fraser
Sad ~ "Someone Like You" Adele
Angry ~ "Imperial March" Star Wars - John Williams
Conflicted ~ "Near to You" A Fine Frenzy
Anything Else ~ "Rolling In the Deep" Adele
To me, these artists are sincere in their music. I mean, when they start playing, it doesn't sound like my sister's rendition of the "Hallelujah Chant". {which you probably don't wanna hear, by the way, no offense to my sister who's probably going to kill me later since she knows how to read now} It sounds like real music. Sometimes the artist reaches into the book called my soul and turns a page, and quotes me. It's amazing.
When someone says music is their life, sometimes I think of an all boy band who practices in their dad's garage. The typical D+ average grades and trying to get a "gig" wherever they can. Maybe I'm stereotyping but sometimes you're going to have to specify was music is to you.
Whether music is within you, or music is your food & drink, or if music is you.
It matters. Because it defines you.
Jocee: dark amber brown eyes, brown hair, dreams with emerald green eyes, sees life the color vintage, cupcake enthusiast, lover of British accents, left-handed, traditional coca-cola bottle lover, lavender vanilla bubble baths, sea shell collector, avid believer in Narnia, Wonderland and Middle Earth, dictionary reader, quill and ink writer, profound quote creator, despiser of capital letters, your personal imagination station, inspired by rainy days, aspiring photographer, bubble blower.

Hello Home (an update of the past two weeks)

2011-07-23T14:29:00.000-04:00

Phew! It has been a long time since I have been home and posted, and it does feel really good to be back, even if it is only for a day :)

Before I start rambling on and on (ready yourself now for a good long ramble) can I just say that all of you who did this round of guest posting did an awesome job? Seriously, I just read all of your posts and they were fantastic, thanks so much, I hope everyone enjoyed them as much as I did! Also, I see that while I was gone, blogger decided to totally mess things up and change everything around. Sorry blogger, but I'm not a fan. Not yet anyway.

BUT ANYWAY.....on to my ramble.
On July 9th (wow that was a long time ago) I arrived at band camp around 9 in the morning. I headed off to auditions immediately, while my dad found my room and brought all my stuff up for me. I was prepared for my auditions, so I was pretty confident. I nailed my jazz audition, and I though my concert band one was a bit shaky, but in the end it didn't matter. After I went back to my dorm room to find this huge beautiful suite waiting for me. It was AMAZING. We had two bedrooms for the five of us, a living room with a couch, chairs and a giant picture window, four desks, a nice bathroom, and kitchen area. So awesome. My roommates were also totally awesome and we had many adventures such as dance parties in the elevator, spicy nacho popcorn, and flooding our suite. (best adventure EVER.) Also, there were great things that happened as a whole camp such as the creation of the ten caBANDments. Epic, epic, epic.

And the music, the MUSIC. Incredible. After lunch on the first day chairs for concert band and jazz band had been posted and to my great delight I found that I was the lead trumpet in the jazz ensemble and principle trumpet in the concert band! (for those of you who don't know, both of these mean first chair- lead is used in jazz and principle in concert band, wind ensemble and orchestra settings) Being first in both meant that I was trumpet section leader, and it landed me a spot in the student solo recital.

It was a really really amazing week, I played so so so much, and so high, and the concert last Sunday was near perfect. Just so much fun! I can't WAIT for next year!

My week at Pilgrim Lodge was great too, and now I'm home for the day. Around 3 I'm going to leave and go see the new Harry Potter movie which I am wicked excited for and also packing because tomorrow I leave for a mission trip with my church which should be great too. Phew! It sure is a busy summer!

Marching Band (A guest post by Lily)

2011-07-22T13:30:00.048-04:00

You are sitting in the stands listening to the music play from the pep band. It starts to get your attention but then something happens when you watch the football team leave the field for half-time. There is a band gathering on the field, ready to pump up the stands. When they start to play it immediately grabs your attention. There is a show happening right before your eyes and you sit there awestruck at the Marching Band. Marching Band has a special place in my life because it really describes my personality.

In Marching Band you can be loud. Or mellow. Or quiet. It can describe your personality depending on how you react to the music. Are you always spirited and joyful? Or maybe you are romantic and passionate? The music plays the way you hear it as.

But the music is how it describes us. The music can be soft and peaceful, like a quiet person. It can be energetic and fast, like an outgoing person. Or the music can even be dark and mysterious, like a villain. The music can be set to different perspectives. What is your perspective of Marching Band music?

Marching Band is a way you can show your spirit, your pride, and your life. But everything is perfected. The way you look, sound, hold your instrument, and the way you walk is all perfected. It is perfected with practice. You know that saying, Practice makes Perfect? Well its the truth. If you practice you will learn. Will you show your pride for your school?

My name is Lily and I'm from Lily Petals Photography. I am a writer in the making. I am currently writing drama, comedy, and science fiction novels. I play clarinet in the Marching Band at my school. I am a Christian ready to server my Lord and Savior in any way. Thanks for listening! Come and see me at my blog!

Dance (a guest post by The Golden Eagle)

2011-07-21T08:00:00.060-04:00

The lights are bright and hot, but the curtain's thick, rough, and cool. In front of you is a black stage with dark tape lining the edges, and to the back (upstage, if you know the lingo) is a high white sheet, swaying gently. You can hear the faint tap of feet along behind the sheet; you know they're waiting for the music, waiting for you to move out onto the stage so they can take their positions in the wings.

The music starts. Perhaps it's a long, vibrating note, or perhaps its a faster, abrupt opening. Either way, it's your turn to face the lights.

You're out. The audience is watching--but who cares? You blink at the lights and your feet grip the floor, and you're moving. You can feel the music making the stage vibrate ever so gently through the speakers.

(SOURCE)

Nothing really compares to dancing, particularly onstage. It's doesn't have quite the repute as acting, it's not quite playing music with others in an orchestra, and it's not quite moving your body to an inner rhythm, as you do when you run or exercise. You have to coordinate, listen to the music, make sure you're in the right position, watch the dancers you're with out on that floor.

(SOURCE)

Some kinds of dance are much more technical than others--some take more and longer training--some are harder to get back into if you stop for a while. But if you put on a good performance, and have fun to boot, then it's more than worth what went into it.

(SOURCE)

Do you dance? If so, what kind: jazz, lyrical, ballet, pointe, tap, acro, hip-hop, etc.? Do you enjoy it?

About The Golden Eagle:

I am a teenage Chinese-American girl living in the USA, who was adopted from Hefei, China. I have many interests, from typing away at my Science Fiction novel and learning more about writing, to rock collecting and reading books on physics, to dancing and playing two musical instruments. All of these come together to become me, the person behind the name, (or, in this case the pseudonym) and I hope you'll join me as I navigate this world.

My blog is The Eagle's Aerial Perspective.

5 things to do if you're bored (a guest post by Hayley)

2011-07-18T07:08:00.002-04:00

You know those weird summer days when you suddenly get really bored and have absolutely no idea what to do? Yeah, well if you're ever having one of those days, try a few of these ideas for things to do:

001. Bake some cupcakes, or maybe some cookies. Then give them to a neighbor or friend. :)

002. Make a jumbo crayon! They're great ideas for presents, and they're so much fun! :) Click here, to learn how to make them.

003. Find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootise Pop!

via

004. See how many hours... or days you can chew the same piece of gum for!

005. Go outside and take a whole lot of pictures. :)

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Hayley! You may notice that I'm a chatter-box and that I tend to ramble at times. Photography is my passion and I am constantly trying to capture the beauty in life. I also love to write and create things with my imagination. I enjoy improv and making people laugh. I am a Christian and love Jesus with all my heart! I adore everything vintage and bohemian. Visit me at my blog, Fish Flakes!

Living for HIS glory - guest post by Buttercup

2011-07-16T18:09:00.005-04:00

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

This is a verse that has been quoted many, many times, but do those who quote it listen to it? Do they heed what they are quoting?

In most cases, the answer is probably no.

Doing all for God's glory and not your own requires a release of your own desires. A laying down of your pride. And most of all, a desire to glorify God above all - a love for God that overrides all else.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." What does this include?

Everything! Everything from eating and drinking, to mowing the lawn, to singing His praise, to cleaning up a mess that no one else wants to clean up. When you do the seemingly dishonorable, or "lower", things do you do them with a smile on your face? or do you do them with a bad attitude, showing your dislike for the task? Be honest. Which of those two options do you think glorifies God? Which manifests Him in your life?

When you do things with a good attitude - a REAL good attitude - you can shock the world. Why? Because this isn't normal! Doing the dirty jobs with a smile on is completely weird in the world's eyes! This is because our natural tendency is to be self-centered. We naturally want all the focus to be on us.

When you become a believer, you acknowledge that God is greater than you. You acknowledge that you can't save yourself from eternity in Hell because you are dead in your sins. You acknowledge that all the glory needs to go to God and not you. And you WANT all the glory to go to God and not to you.

Right?

Christian's aren't perfect. I guarantee it. But by God's grace we honestly WANT to glorify Him! He saved us and out of gratitude and loyalty we glorify Him.

Giving God the glory means doing things that manifest Him. For example, while in the grocery store, do you walk around the store grumbling about how the prices are going up? or do you smile at everyone, and say hi?

Your attitude is your greatest witness. The first thing people notice about you is what kind of expression you have on your face - your attitude.

Therefore, glorify God through your attitude.

What about words and actions? Aren't those important too?

After your attitude, the next thing people see are your words and actions. Therefore, glorifying God through your words - saying things that uplift instead of put down - and glorifying Him through your actions - doing things that edify instead of tear down - is equally important!

Do you glorify your Savior through your actions, words, and attitude? or do you glorify yourself?

Do you seek to manifest Him when you are around others so they can see Him in you? or do you deny Him while in public so others don't think you are weird?

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. -Matthew 10:33

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. -Matthew 16:24

Glorifying God shouldn't be thought of as a chore, for it's not! Glorifying God should come out of a heart that is overflowing with love for God! A heart that is utterly thankful for what He has done!

Therefore, I ask, are you glorifying God in all you do? Are you giving Him the glory? Are you living in a way that manifests Him?

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

In Christ alone,

Buttercup

Thank you SO much, Sally, for giving me this opportunity to post on your blog!!!

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A bit about me -

I am, first and foremost, a Christian, saved by Christ alone. He is my God, King, Lord, and Savior, and I strive to live my life to His glory alone. I am also an American, a homeschooler, and a teenager. I have five great siblings and two awesome parents. My best friends are those in my Youth Group. I love playing volleyball, reading, crocheting, sculpting, and more. I have been blogging since 2008, and have truly loved it! Please stop by my blog sometime! www.soaringbuttercup.blogspot.com

snapshots (a guest post by vickii)

2011-07-15T10:13:00.211-04:00

If you were to ask me my favorite thing to capture, I couldn't give you an honest answer.

Sure, I'd say something vague, like 'nature' or 'everyday life'. But a specific subject? No way.

I consider myself an amateur photographer, pretty comfortable with a camera but not too experienced for the grand title of a professional. I like variety in my photos, something different besides the standards I wish to pass.

Something simple, like a misplaced rubber band on the kitchen table, can quickly become beautiful.

Something ordinary, like my wildly-patterned curtains, inherited from my grandparents, can quickly become an abstract interpretation of life.

Something imperfect, a potted fern, can quickly become unique.

Photography is like an entire different language. Taking photos, editing them, smiling at those captured memories and careless snapshots taken with a friend - it's like retail therapy, only knowing that it comes from you. And browsing those blogs with the breathtaking photos, like these and these and these, well, it's truly therapeutic.

I swear - I swear - my hand was made to hold a camera. Without photography, without that variety in life, without those memories and that ability to transform an everyday item into something beautiful, I think I'd shrivel up and die or something.

Photography is beautiful. Photography is life.

-------------------------

I'd like to thank Sally for letting me guest post - I enjoy reading her blog, and I'm so glad I was able to help her out while she's having a lovely time at camp. :)

a little bit about me...

What can I say? I love finding beauty in everything, embracing the small things, capturing memories and discovering new places. It's my dream to travel the world one day. iPod in pocket, camera in hand, I feel ready to accomplish anything. Photography and music are my life. It's lovely to meet you. :)
Visit my (working on!) project 365 on Flickr.

The Simplicities of a Best Day Ever (Guest Post by Abbie)

2011-07-14T16:23:00.005-04:00

Hey Everyone!

My name is Abbie, but I'm usually Abs, Abacus, or Sunshine to my friends. Most of you probably know Sally from school, so you may know each other. I met Sally at band camp, so I'm a stranger. Now, I'm sure that your parents are all very good and very smart people, and have prompted you many times not to talk to strangers. However I won't kidnap you and would love to hear from you on my blog, at http://myimageabacus.blogspot.com/ . And if you are interested, I thought I'd let you know that I post chapters to the stories that I am writing instead of about my life, because its too crazy to get on the page. Of course, now I feel like one of those stupid self advertising people, so I am going to change the subject...
Have you ever had one of those days when you can really, truly say that it was the best day ever? Not just a mildly good day, or a day where several events brought you pleasure. No, I mean one of those days that you see the beauty in everything, where everyone you love is happy, and when absolutely nothing has gone wrong. When you can look back and compare it to every other day, and it was perfect, for a very simplistic reason. Well, I am fortunate enough to have had two of those days in my life. And both of them were spent with the same person. This person is my good friend Delia, who is one of my three can't-go-a-day-without-contact besties.
The day started out like any other, but it was exceptionally hot. I was sitting lazily on the couch watching cartoons when she called. She asked if I wanted to go swimming, and of course the answer was yes. What could be better on a day like that than sinking into a pool with a good friend?
Although I regret doing so, I am now going to quote another of those three people, and admit that at times I am a bit of a Pansy. Being this "Pansy" I get cold really easily and needed to get out after about a half hour. We then put our towels out on the driveway, which was repaved a year or so ago and was smooth and black and warm on our freezing backs. Okay, my freezing back.
After this recharge we went to lay in the grass under a favorite tree and listen to music. Something we do often. A song from a Disney movie, "Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride" came on and she tied her towel around her like a skirt, dancing in a hula-like fashion. Her older sister and I joined her, and after about fifteen minutes we had a hole dance put together. We were really starting to get excited about it when a jogger came around the corner. I think he had headphones in, and the guy comes around everyday, probably seeing us do much crazier things than the hula, but for whatever the reason someone said "Jogger!!" and we all hit the ground in somewhat casual positions.
Some things that I heard out of the commotion as we turned off the music and untied our skirts were, "Pshh, we're not doing the hula." "No way, there's no music." "We don't dance on the front lawn." And finally, my own spastic comment, "We're not even Hawaiian!!!" This wasn't all that funny, but we laughed so hard that we were rolling on our backs.
After we calmed down, we realized that we could always hula in the pool, and we were getting hot again. So we went back in.
After a few underwater tea parties, the clouds started rolling in. Oh, goody.
We had just barely made it into the garage with our iPods and towels when it started downpouring. It had hardly been a minute and already the streets were flooded. We did a kind of awkward sigh in unison, and Delia spoke our thoughts.
"I wish we could go out there. It would be so much fun." That was when I chimed in. "Why not? We're already wet and we're wearing bathing suits!" So we did.
We danced around in the rain, her sister had a bit of a slip, but no causualties. The tar had been so hot earlier that it burned our feet, but now the cool rain sent steam billowing away from it. It was gorgeous. It was as if the Earth itself knew when it was too hot, and sent the short, ten minute burst to cool off with. Delia called it extraordinarily brilliant. And it was.
Soon after that I had to be home, but halfway there I realized that I had forgotten something.
"Hey Sunshine. What starts with g, ends in s, and you wear it on your face?" I recognized that I needed my glasses and turned around, but answered, "Is it a puppy?"
Nothing that happened that day was really all that special. But for some strange reason, it struck me as amazing. It also helped me realize how much I love my life, and my friends. Next time it rains on a hot day, watch the steam come off the tar, dance around in your bathing suit, and think about it. What really qualifies for a best day ever?

four books that every person should read {a guest post by Tessa Brooke}

2011-07-13T07:00:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! I'm Tessa Brooke from Chase Your Dreams! This is my first time guest posting anywhere so, this should be fun!

I'm sure that every one of you have at least read one book that you wish that every person on the earth could read. If not, I must be thinking fanciful thoughts, because I have encountered those kinds of books, well, more than once. And what better way is there to get the word out than here, at Treble Clef, in a guest post? So, I'll get started!

Mara, Daughter of the Nile is one of my all-time favorite books. I have probably read it six to ten times. That's how good it is. Amazon summary:

The adventures of an ingenious Egyptian slave girl who undertakes a dangerous assignment as a spy in the royal palace of Thebes, in the days when Queen Hatshepsut ruled.

Honestly, that doesn't do this book justice, but I don't think much could without ruining the story.

The Swan House is the next on my list. I only read it recently, but it is definitely an amazing read. It is a Christian book set in the time of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a very inspiring read, not to mention that it had amazing quotes! Who doesn't like some new quotes? Amazon summary:

Mary Swan Middleton has always taken for granted the advantages of her family's wealth. But a tragedy that touches all of Atlanta sends her reeling in grief. When the family maid challenges her to reach out to the less fortunate as a way to ease her own pain, Mary Swan meets Carl—and everything changes. For although Carl is her opposite in nearly every way, he has something her privileged life could not give her. And when she seeks his help to uncover a mystery, she learns far more than she ever could have imagined.

Redeeming Love is a very hard read. It is based on the Bible book of Hosea. It talks about very hard subjects. I would only recommend it for more mature teenagers, and even then I would ask your parents before you read it just in case they have any reasons why they wouldn't want to you to. It is still a very, very good book. Amazon summary:

In this splendid retelling of the biblical story of Hosea, bestselling author Francine Rivers pens a heartbreaking romance between a prostitute and the upright and kind farmer who marries her; the story also functions as a reminder of God's unconditional love for his people. Redeeming Love opens with the Gold Rush of 1850 and its rough-and-tumble atmosphere of greed and desire. Angel, who was sold into prostitution as a child, has learned to distrust all men, who see her only as a way to satisfy their lust. When the virtuous and spiritual-minded Michael Hosea is told by God to marry this "soiled dove," he obeys, despite his misgivings. As Angel learns to love him, she begins to hope again but is soon overwhelmed by fear and returns to her old life.

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one of the sweetest and saddest books I've ever read. It's set in 1840's when the American-Japanese where actually taken out of their homes and put in internment camps--right here in America.

It tells the story of a Chinese-American boy, Henry Lee, who is living in the midst of World War II. As he tries to meet all of his father's expectations to be "American," and get through a day at school, he meets a young Japanese-American girl, Keiko Okabe. Amazon summary:

Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Well, those just four books that I think you all would enjoy! At least I think you would!

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Hey! I'm Tessa Brooke. I'm fourteen, and most of my friends use the word random to describe me. Photography is my past-time. I am a dancer. Vintage is better. Books are my escapes. Guitar is my instrument. I like a challenge. Goodwill is amazing. I am a Jesus freak, as Toby Mac and Newsboys put it. I would love to meet you over at my blog Chase Your Dreams! Cheerio until then!

an easy [and delicious] recipe...by Lauren!

2011-07-12T00:00:00.006-04:00

Hey, everyone! It's Lauren from Thrive! I'm here on Sally's amazing blog today to talk to you about one of my favorite topics on the entire planet...FOOD!

I've been lucky to be going to baking camp at a Chef Central store near me for the last two weeks. We bake for four hours straight, and then at one o'clock, we eat all of the food that we create! I've been to three summer cooking camps in Chef Central in the past, but these two weeks are my first experiences as a full-fledged pastry chef. ;)

Anyways, I wanted to share this super easy recipe with you all! If you like dessert/chocolate as much as I do, I know you'll love this recipe. Like I said, it's easy. As in, if you are such a bad cook that you burn water, you can still make this. I used to be a terrible cook. The only thing I could make was cereal. But even back then, I could make this.

Chocolate Croissants

Ingredients:

-2 sheets of frozen puff pastry (one package)*

-1 egg, beaten

-12 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I feel like we might have used semi-sweet chocolate chips and they came out good. So semi-sweet chocolate is good also)

*For those of you who don't know what puff pastry is (I didn't before last week), it's frozen pastry that comes in sheets. The box looks something like this:

(not my image)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the two sheets of puff pastry into 2 rectangles. Cut each rectangle into 4 long triangles with a smaller triangle on each end. Place a piece of chocolate in the middle of the wider end, about 3/4 inch from the edge. Brush the edges with the beaten egg and roll the puff pastry up. Shape into croissants and place them seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat the same method with the remaining dough. Bake for about 15 minutes.

I know that is incredibly confusing, especially since I don't have pictures (we're not allowed to take pictures during camp), but I made this diagram to try to help you.

Good luck, and happy baking!

_________________________

I'm Lauren, a 14-year-old girl who is far too complex to be accurately described through words on a screen. I guess I'm kind of "messed up", but I'm trying to overcome that. Hopefully through my blog, Thrive, you get to learn more about me and who I really am.

everyday beauty (a guest post by hannah)

2011-07-11T10:43:00.073-04:00

Anyone can find beauty in simple, everyday things. For instance, say your little brother is sitting across from you at your kitchen table and he's working hard on his new math lesson. He's tapping his head with his pencil, lips pursed in concentration.
Then, suddenly, his little seven-year-old hands start scribbling away, his eyes dashing madly from his writing to the problem.

And you see the light in his eyes as he looks up at you with a big grin on his face, holding up his math book, saying, "I got it!"

Thats true beauty. When you really appreciate that moment, you understand that it was special.

Or when you wake up in the morning and you see the first sunlight coming through your bedroom window, and something just appeals to you about the way the light hits your favorite sandals. No, your not going crazy, it is beautiful.

If you decide it is.

People often forget how wonderful, how awesome everything is. We often just take things for granted, when really we should appreciate our time on this incredible earth, because you never know when it'll be over...

So go do something crazy.
Dance around in the street in the rain. Climb a tree and tie a balloon to one of its branches. Roll down the windows in the car and blast your favorite song, singing along loud and clear. Because you know what?
Whatever you do, wherever you go, and whoever you see along the way, let everyone know this:

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.

-hannah

I am a photographer, writer, blogger, painter, graphic designer, lover of life. I see the world through green eyes and I have an ambition to find what I'm supposed to do with my time down here. I love to laugh. Bohemian clothes are my obsession. Caramel frappuccinos from Starbucks rock. Fields and train tracks are way underrated. Chocolate is possibly the best food in the world. Family is more important to me than anything. Find out more about me at my blog, my {beautiful} nutty life. Also, you can order a blog design from me at my graphic design blog, Simply You Designs

photography -- a guest post by grace

2011-07-10T10:31:00.000-04:00

Hey, guys! My name is Grace and I blog over at Grace Loves the Beatles. I'm here to talk a little about my photography -- oh, my photography.

I've had a camera since day one (thanks, mom, really), so I've always been comfortable with it. I went through several point and shoots, and last Christmas, finally saved up enough money to buy my first dSLR, a Nikon d40x. I was in love with that thing, guys. The black and yellow strap never left my neck.

And that's still the case. I started a Project 365 (taking and posting a photo every day for a year). It seemed so intimidating and pressuring at first, but it just gets to be a habit. I think that my photography has improved so much since I started.

My favorite photography is just... outdoor, real-life photography. You know, walking around town with my camera strap around my neck. The best.

Another one of my favorite subjects is my little brother, Charlie Pete. (He's the blonde one in the above photo.) He is so cute, but is getting more and more stubborn around the camera... whenever he sees my Nikon, he'll purposely not look at it.

I edit my photos mainly in Photoshop Elements 8, but recently downloaded the 30-day trial of Lightroom 3. It's a little (or a lot) confusing, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I think.

Hm, what else to say? Sally, thanks for letting me guest post! This is my first one.

If you want to see more of my photography, check out my blog Grace Loves the Beatles! Come on, don't be shy.

I Run (a guest post by Danielle)

2011-07-07T17:57:00.000-04:00

(so sorry this got published way too early -- blogger isn't letting me schedule posts so when I hit publish (meaning to schedule it) it actually published)

I run.

Sometimes because my energy is up and I need to move.
Sometimes because that is my get away -- my place when I am alone. My thinking spot.
Sometimes I have to force myself because all I want to do is be lazy.
But I run anyway, because it's worth it.

I pull my hair up out of my face, stick my headphones into my ears, and blast the volume.

I slip into my running shoes, making sure the laces are strongly tied.

The hardest step is the first one out the front door - then it comes naturally.

I run to the beat of my song, blocking out any other sounds.

The steady pitter-patter of my feet touching the ground goes along with the steady beat of my music.

Then slow and deep breathing - in and out, in and out.

Coming home, I am out of breath and sweaty, but feel great.

A sense of accomplishment, achievement, and pure joy.

I run because yesterday I said tomorrow.

"You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face."

I am motivated to run, what are you motivated to do?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm Danielle: photographer, writer, and musician. Jesus is my everything, because without Him, I would be nothing. I love laughter, dancing in the rain makes me happy, floral is my favorite pattern to wear, I don't go anywhere without my camera, and I am the clumsiest person you will ever meet. Pleasure to meet you!
I would love it if you stopped by my blog!

4th Festivities

2011-07-05T09:34:00.000-04:00

Ahhh....it sure is good to be home! I'm going to try and really enjoy this week here before I leave on Saturday...for the rest of the month.

Our family had a great time up in Bar Harbor for the weekend. As I mentioned in my previous post, my mom, dad, brother, aunt and her boyfriend, and I went for a hike up Acadia Mountain. We did Flying Mountain last year which is pretty much just a big hill, so this was more strenuous, but more fun too! X kept being crazy and jumping off of rocks and scaring people and pretending to be a monkey while caw-ing like a crow. Don't ask me what was going through that boy's mind, because I don't know. On both the way down and up there were some nice rock ledges to scramble up and down which was quite fun, although that was the time that I was glad that I had left my camera at home, else it probably would have been smushed onto the rocks. It was very nice and windy at the top which was a relief, so we stayed and rested up there for a bit. It was very cool to look all around and see all the other mountains in the area. It's crazy how many mountains fit onto Mount Desert Island...

We went out to dinner that night which was nice, and then for the 4th we started out the day by going into town for the big 4th of July parade. Who knew that Bar Harbor put on such a long and awesome parade? There were all sorts of mini racecars and floats and firetrucks and clowns and such. plus they all throw candy and because I have been marching in parades with the band for so long a had forgotten how much fun it is to dive for the candy thrown into the streets. Bwahaha. One of life's greatest pleasures.

After the parade, there were festivities in the park so I had some french fries, a cherry and blue raspberry snowcone and I also got a wicked cool wallet before we left for the campground again. The afternoon was pretty chill, we went swimming, read books and lounged around and ended the day with a meal of chicken salad sandwiches (or fake chicken in the case of my mom and I), potato salad, and corn on the cob with homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert. YUM!

We headed home after that and so now I'm just chilling here this week before band camp starts, doing laundry and a whole lot of practicing. Somebody around here is shooting to get first chair, if you know what I mean... ;)

A Brief Return

2011-07-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody! It's me, Sally....remember?

I know, I know I've only been gone a week....

First off, let's have a round of applause for our guest posters this past week. *Claps* You guys all did a wonderful job, thanks so much, I really enjoyed reading your posts. And if you loved these guest posts, then you're in luck because we start another, longer, round of them next Saturday when I head off to band camp.

As for me, I had quite the awesome week at Pilgrim Lodge. I did a lot of music, and I actually led a workshop in more classical instrumental music with my arrangement of Bring Him Home. It was a LOT of hard work and I was glad to have a counselor to help me out a bit too because we really needed someone to conduct and I needed to play. Plus I know virtually nothing about stings, and he was a violin player so that helped a lot for the string players in my group. It was really really pretty at the performance, soft guitar chords, light eighth-noted piano with chords underneath, classical high trumpet melody (played wonderfully by yours truly), haunting harmony in the second trumpet, dark cello bass line, and sweeping violin and viola descant. It was really really amazing and a LOT of fun.
I also did a bunch of other stuff, like chapel services, some art projects, walk the labyrinth, eat ice cream, swim, and go out in the big yellow dory. I added a new instrument to my ever growing repertoire too. I learned how to play the mandolin! It was really fun, and it's really cute. Hmm...I wonder what will be on my Christmas list this year...

All in all it was a really great week. Yesterday though, was WAY too much driving. My mom picked me up at camp, we drove home which was a little over an hour, I had an hour at home then my mom and I had to drive another 45 minutes to my brother's All-Star baseball game which they won 14-4. Yay. Then we got in the car again and drove four hours up to a campground on Mount Desert Island where my grandparents are staying at a campground which Is where I am now.
It's windy and cold up here right now, so we're just sitting in the camper. Later though, my parents, my brother, my aunt, her boyfriend, and I are going to hike up Acadia Mountain which should be fun and hopefully warmer than it is here.

How have your weeks been?

completely change your bedroom in one weekend or less

2011-06-30T13:15:00.001-04:00

Hello, pretty people, this is olivia from of horsefeathers. My dear little (and I use that term with the greatest possible endearment) friend Sally asked me to guest post, so I started considering options for what you all would like to read about.

A little background: I am an incredibly flighty and indecisive human being. I like change so much it's almost a medical disorder. Unfortunately, I happen to still be in high school and thus live with my parents, so I can't hop around to different cities whenever I please. Instead, I have a bedroom.

This post has more detail than you need and each section is broken into two parts based on your personality.
Mellow Myra- you'd like to switch up your room and get rid of the frothy pink drapes, but once it's done you'll be happy for a long, long while.
Ever-changing Eva- you are like me; never happy with one scenery, you require constant change. I switch up my bedroom every month or so for a totally different vibe.

This tried-and-true weekend plan is not only quick and easy, it's also cheap. If you're lucky, you won't need to buy anything — that depends on finding furniture, art, paint, and fabric around the house, but even if you do have to buy those things I'm sure Goodwill and yard sales will suffice. Under a hundred bucks for a whole new room.

Ready? Let's begin, and hang on tight — this weekend is yours, baby.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Myra: Know what you want? Lovely. Sketch it out, plan where everything will go, be meticulous. Your room will be stable for a long while, you want it to be absolutely perfect.

Eva: I'm guessing you have no idea what you want your room to look like. I recommend going to Houzz and ApartmentTherapy and pulling photos you like onto your desktop for consideration. This will help you get a better idea of the style you want.

SATURDAY MORNING

Both: Scared of the basement/attic? I hope not, because if you're lucky they will hold a treasure trove of furniture, lamps, art, etc. that you can use in your room. (My parents were, once upon a time, buyers and sellers of Danish modern design furniture, so we have loads of cool stuff in our basement I can bring into my room at any time.) If not, go yard sale diving! There will be lots this morning, and you can probably bargain for prices. Flea markets are a safe bet too.

Don't despair if it's not perfect, because your good friend paint will help you out. If you find the perfect shaped chair but it's a hideous green, just grab some paint and make that sucker white. Or yellow. Or aqua.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

One of the biggest changes you can make to a room is painting it. Repainting your walls (and if you can, your floor — painted hardwood floors are the new big thing, but check with your parents first!) makes a huge difference. PS: You might want to sleep on the couch tonight, because paint fumes are sketchy stuff.

Myra: Choose a color that will compliment your preexisting color scheme — be bright, bold, neutral, dark, light, whatever floats your boat. You won't be switching things up too much, so you could even go for wallpaper or stencils or decals. Very chic.

Eva: Please please please paint everything white. Trust me. Fabrics and art can add color and be changed easily, but if you do your room in yellow then decide a month later that yellow is the worst color in the world (sheepishly raises hand) you'll have to repaint everything. Make your walls, furniture, and other permanent features of the room white. You will thank me later.

SUNDAY

Myra: Time to move in the furniture. (I recommend getting some help; don't want to scratch anything.) You planned everything out, and chances are you're already pretty neat, so you won't need to spend a lot of time on this. Add art, rugs, bedspreads, etc, and you're done! Enjoy!

Eva: Before you move anything, organize your junk (ever-changing people tend not to be very neat; I know I'm not). Baskets and bookshelves are your friends. Once your room looks a little more acceptable, get someone to help you move in furniture. Play around with it a bit, then when you're happy with the arrangement add in art and textiles and all that jazz. All done! (The best part is that in another month, just move things around and change the art and add/remove some rugs and voilá! Whole new room in under a day.)

Cheers, everyone, and have fun! Here are my own redecoration posts over the ages. Notice how most everything is white, and I use art and rugs to switch things up.

xoxo.

Haley

2011-06-29T17:11:00.004-04:00

Hello! I'm Haley, Sally's friend. As you all know Sally isn't here right now so she has people doing blogs for her! My blog is going to be about GINGERS

So here are some facts you may, or may not, have heard of!!!

Less than four percent of the world's population has naturally red hair.
30% of women that die their hair choose red.
Red hair is a genetic mutation.(How I'm a mutant!)
A study in 2002 found that redheads need 20% more anesthesia than other people. They are also prone to waking up during surgery.(I had to get novacaine 3 times, and it still didn't work all the way)
Redheads don't get gray hair. They fade to blonde and then eventually to white.
When people call themselves "redheaded stepchild" they mean that they are treated badly.(Eek! I'm actually a redhead and I'm a stepchild!!!!!! But I'm not treated badly)
"You'd find it easier to be bad then good if you have red hair. Poeple who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is." -Anne of Green Gables

Isn't that super cool??? By the way about the redheaded stepchild thing I'm not mistreated in any way, shape or form!

There are some very, very famous gingers out there! Such as Fred Weasley! Just so you know he is my absolute favorite character in the Harry Potter Series. I don't like the look of the actor very much but that's who he is! Thank you for reading my guest blog! Now I have to got to take my casserole out of the oven.

Sand and Sun (Guest post by Hannah G)

2011-06-28T18:02:00.001-04:00

Hello readers! It's Hannah Here from The Caged Bird Sings. As you may have guessed today's topic is all about the beach. The beach is one of my favorite places in the entire world, because I can find so many treasures,creatures, and I can be free. Today I just happened to take a grand adventure to the beach accompanied with some friends. Let me tell you the story.

As some of you may know it was a very hot and sunny Maine day. After quite a long and strenuous field hockey practice me, and two of my best friends headed off to the beach to soak up some sun! Even though we missed two buses, called the bus station 12 times, and stopped at multiple stops, we finally got to Willard Beach.!! Next it was time to tan, we hit up a great spot on the crowded beach and soaked up some sun. Well maybe a little to much.....

After looking through tide pools for mysterious things, picking up crabs, falling off pipes into the water, being burried from neck to feet in the sand, and getting to much sun it was time to head home. I had found some cool sea glass,and had fun with friends so overall was a good day.My friends are so great and I am glad that I have friends that will always be there to get sunburned with me :) . In the end I did end up looking like a lobster...I hope someone doesn't mistake me for one. That would not be to good.

Thank you all so much for reading this post, and I hope you liked my little story. Do you guys like the beach as well? What is your favorite thing to do there? Since my favorite place in the world is the beach what is yours? I can't wait to hear your thoughts. have a happy blogging day!

Guest Post by Hannah Marie:

2011-06-27T10:15:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody! It's Hannah Marie from Distant Hoofbeats. For those of you that used to follow my blog would probably remember that I deleted it not too long ago, but obviously I've started it up again! Though this time my blog will have much more photography than just random like ramblings. So what's my photography like? Here's a little sneak peak of what kinds of photography albums I'll posting on my "new" blog.

I can totally imagine faeries living in these :) (yes yes i know, faeries)

This is Portland Head Light, Maine landmark!

Our garden grows the most beautiful Irises. Be expecting a post very soon on my blog with plenty of Iris photos like this one.

And of course, what would be my blog with horse photography? Yep, that's Jewel, I'm still riding her.

This is one of my photos was featured in my Early Spring album. It has to be my favorite.

So yes, I am back on blogger and that's what my posts will be about. I hope you'll come and stop by my blog too. A big thanks to Sally for letting me guest post on her blog!

And On That Note...

2011-06-26T11:30:00.005-04:00

Well here we are, June 26, the day that I head off to camp and leave this blog at the mercy of the guest posters.

I'm very excited for camp today, I'm pretty sure that I've been bouncing off the walls for about a week, and today I've been even worse. Maybe it isn't such a great idea to let me drive to camp...I'm so excited, I might just floor the gas pedal which would NOT be so great at all...I'll try not to do that...I'd like to get to camp in one piece.

I also performed a solo in church this morning, a very nice arrangement of a hymn that I have always had a soft spot for, Shine, Jesus, Shine. I was very happy to find that it was in a book of trumpet and piano hymn arrangements that I bought last summer and decided that it would make a good solo piece. By the way, it went very well, thank you for asking.

So now that I am about an hour away from leaving, I suppose I should say goodbye now and go have some lunch...I'll miss you guys but don't worry! You haven't seen the last of Sally. I'll be popping in over the course of the next month whenever I come in reach of a computer to update you on my life and travels, but as you recall, the blog will not be lying inactive in my absence! I've got about twenty-five totally AWESOME guest posters to write and share some stuff about themselves on here and I expect that you show them all your very best behavior while I'm gone, LOL. While they're posting comment moderation will be off as they do not have the power to moderate comments, but word verification WILL be on, just to prevent spamming. OK?

Bye, everybody! Have fun with all the guest posts!

-Sally

Rainy Day Thoughts

2011-06-24T16:54:00.000-04:00

It's actually pretty quiet in my house for once.

My brother and dad are off at baseball practice, my mom is in the living room playing some chill music and I'm just sitting here listening to the music, writing this post and watching the rain lightly fall down.

It's pretty nice to have a bit of relaxation.

Yesterday Olivia came over to spend the night. The original plan was to go to the beach today after our sleepover but we went nix-nay on plan A when I saw the weather forecast...and I'm glad we made that decision. Beach + rain = miserable.

So instead we hung out here and we ate enchiladas for dinner and jammed out for quite some time on guitar and vocals (Olivia) and trumpet (me). It was really fun. We also watched a couple of horror movies. Last night we watched the 1983 film 'The Poltergeist' which was VERY VERY awesome-ly freaky, creepy, and scary, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes those kind of movies. And also don't be fooled by its rating of 'PG'. It is most certainly more like PG-13 scary.

And my words of wisdom on the motto of this film:

IF YOU'RE GOING TO MOVE A GRAVEYARD, MOVE THE HEADSTONES AND THE BODIES.

This morning we also watched the more recent movie 'The Haunting In Connecticut' which is actually a true story and wicked creepy. It was very scary, but enjoyable. It included some pretty creepy stuff though like post-mortem photography (WHY would anyone want to take pictures of dead people?) and cutting off eyelids for necromancy and stuff. Very well done and a really gripping and suspenseful story, I highly recommend it to you as well.

And again, my words of wisdom to you:

DON'T DO CREEPY STUFF LIKE NECROMANCY AND CUTTING OFF PEOPLES EYELIDS AND SEANCES AND TALKING TO GHOSTS AND CREATING ECTOPLASM AND DON'T LIVE IN A HOUSE WHERE THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

Quite simple things to follow actually, when you move graveyards, move the bodies, and don't do creepy stuff. This is what I learned at my sleepover last night.

Since Olivia went home, things have been pretty chill around here, like I said before. I had some practice up at church for a piece that I'm performing on Sunday, and I went to the library to get a bunch of books (obviously...) and I guess when I'm done I'll work on my packing for Pilgrim Lodge, which I am SO SO SO SO excited for and to which I wish I was going tomorrow instead of Sunday, but oh well. At least I don't have to wait until August, which would be torture.

So yeah. Those are my rainy day thoughts.

Please take my words of wisdom to heart.

You don't want to get caught up in a horror movie.

Of Trampolines and Friendly Toes

2011-06-22T10:03:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Yesterday, well, last night actually, I spent the night at my dear friend Lucy's house. As always we had lots of fun bouncing on her trampoline and naming a photograph 'friendly toes' among other things. She was feeling a little left out that she was going away and not going to be around during the whole guest post fest this summer, so we thought we would do a little conversation post for today because we haven't had one of those in a while. I will type in black and Lucy will type in purple. Why don't you say hello, Lucy?

Hello, Lucy.

Lucy, I'm pretty sure that I am Sally, not Lucy, YOU are Lucy, although we do get mixed up sometimes....

Pshhh, ladeeda. I'm hungry. GIMME A STRAWBERRY.

They're out in the kitchen and for the taking......

Your brother is a very boring person to text, Sally. Have you ever noticed that?

LOL, no, but I can imagine. So Lucy, what are your plans for the day after we eat strawberries, finish this post and do some trampolining?

I'll morph into a potato and sit on the couch doing something completely unproductive. Ya know, the usual.

Oh Lucy...I think I will do lots of trumpet playing (the usual), I need to practice a piece that I'm playing in church on Sunday, an audition and solo piece I need for band camp, and also Bring Him Home for next week at camp. Oh and I'm getting this reiki attunement thing which is like opening up a channel in you for energy to flow and I can like send good energy to people through my hands. It's pretty cool.

So you could send good happy energy to say, our dear friend Ttam?

Who is Ttam? Wait, I don't wanna know.....SUBJECT CHANGE!

He's in your section, silly goose. But how about we change the subject to cheesecake?

I am pretty sure that on every conversation post we've ever had you have changed the subject to cheesecake. Now how many times do I need to tell you that I HATE CHEESECAKE! Although I do find Louie Armstrong's song 'Cheesecake' quite entertaining.

Ttam likes cheesecake.

Lucy, you are not prolonging the lifespan of this conversation. Besides, I am getting very hungry for strawberries.

Let's show them the Friendly Toes and wrap this up.

Okey dokey. By the way, I took this picture last summer and the toes belong to my friends Hannah, Molly, Molly, and me.

FRIENDLY TOES!!!!

Bye guys!

¡Adios, mi amigos penguinos!

Oh Lucy...what am I ever going to do with you?

i'm permitted!

2011-06-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's right.

I PASSED MY PERMIT TEST TODAY!!!

It's very exciting, I must say. I got a 98 which means I only got one question wrong which I am very pleased about and my mom actually let me drive home without screaming so I'm proud of her too. *round of applause*

Anyway, now I can legally drive with a licensed driver over the age of 20 in the front seat until I'm 16 and can apply for my road test. Woot!

That's really the only exciting thing that happened today....

Some neighbors of ours came over for coffee and banana bread (very very good banana bread) this morning which was fun, and I also began doing my major laundry for camp which was....not fun. Actually I don't mind the laundry itself, I just despise folding it, LOL.

Just another lazy summer day I guess...

Hello Baseball, I See You've Taken Over My Life

2011-06-19T11:53:00.000-04:00

Goodness gracious there seems to be a lot of baseball action going on around here lately!

Which is why I suppose, if it seems to be taking over my life, I should do a little post about it.

I guess we all like baseball in this family.

I played softball for several years.

My brother has played on several teams throughout his life.

My mom has come and cheered on every game.

My dad has coached teams of both me and my brother.

We all love the Red Sox and our AA team the Sea Dogs.

Yeah, we like baseball.

And yes, it seems to be taking over my life at the moment.

Over here at least, we're quite happy that the Sox have turned things around and have been pretty much demolishing the other team in the majority of games that they play which is pretty awesome. Turning on the TV to watch the game can be pretty fun.

My brother, X, has always played baseball at some level, and yesterday was his Little League championship game which was very exciting! X pitched the whole game and his team won the game and the championship with a score of 4-0. He had a good pitching outing and also got a wicked hit, a double, and ended up stealing third and scoring the first run on the next hit. Go team!

Today, although Father's Day, (Yay to all the dads out there!) is also baseball-infused. X has two games for his AAU team and my little adorable cousin, Sammy, has been playing t-ball this year and we're going to go to his game too, which is sure to be adorable.

Plus to add on top of all the baseball craziness, X also is starting on his all-star team! The baseball season seems to never end....

Yesterday we also had some excitement in the form of an early evening thunderstorm. It was kinda weird because while it was a large, severe storm, the sky never did get really dark. It was pretty intense though, because there was so much hail! Seriously, the hail just kept on coming, and coming, and coming. And it was pretty big too. Some pieces were quarter size and most were 1/2 to 3/4 of that.

Finally, I go for my driver's permit tomorrow! Wish me luck! :)

In the Midst of Summer

2011-06-17T14:11:00.000-04:00

Being on summer vacation is a truly excellent feeling.
Yesterday was my last day of finals, and my last day of freshman year. I'm happy to say that I passed all my classes with high honors and am excited for a challenging sophomore year come September!
For now though, I sure am enjoying the summer.
After school was over yesterday, my friend Haley and I hopped on the bus and headed down to the local ice cream shop where we treated our selves to large amounts of chocolate ice cream topped with Reese's and plenty of whipped cream. Needless to say, it was a great start to summer vacation. I spent the rest of yesterday lounging around and playing badminton with my brother and my mom and I went shopping in the evening, which was good because I needed a few more summer clothes.
Got some orange plaid shorts a couple tank tops, and also the lovely outfit I am sporting today, some gray jean shorts and a aqua-green and white striped shirt. Very summery and awesome.

Today I simply relished being able to sleep in until eight, which is so much better than having to wake up at five-thirty every morning to a shrill alarm clock. Best part of summer- no annoying alarm clock.
This morning I went to my brother's final assembly at the middle school at which he received a number of awards, and then came here and finished ready Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows out on my front porch. I figured that I had to read it again before the epic second half of the movie comes out in July :)
I also had a practice up at church for trumpet, and soon I am heading out to my final driving lesson! I'm very excited...I take my permit test of Monday and should have that permit in my hands by 3pm, at which time I can legally drive. Bwahaha.
I'm also going out to dinner with my extended family tonight to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.
All in all, it's been a busy and fun first day and a half of summer vacation!
What have you done so far with YOUR summer?

Four Down

2011-06-15T18:29:00.000-04:00

Oh finals week...oh joy.

Finals are extremely miserable and annoying and they take a long time, but at least once you're done, you're done.

With the way my finals schedule, I ended up having six finals (I have 8 classes but there obviously was no final for study hall and playing at graduation was our band final)

Yesterday my first final was French, and I'd say that that was probably my easiest final so far. It was basically a common assessment measuring speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension and writing. It wasn't bad at all- although I don't have my grade for that yet...there's always the possibility that I will change may mind about it being bad or not ;)

Next I had a free block so I went and chilled in the library before my second exam which was English. That wasn't bad either, so yesterday wasn't bad at all in terms of test difficulty! (Although I don't have grades for either test yet, so...)

Today, goodness, today.

I began the day with a very hard history final. Way over 100 questions, multiple choice, matching and a TON of short answer/essay. It was brutal, but I got a 95 which made me really happy :)

I had the second test block free and my mom took me to this coffee shop place where I got this really delicious coffee/chocolate drink that had whipped cream and was quite marvelous. I also got a really yummy everything bagel with veggie cream cheese and I ate these wonderful food items in a squishy chair and read Harry Potter 7 and emptied my head of history. There is really not much that is better.

Later I headed off to my geometry exam which went quite well too, and which I got a 92 on, so I'm happy.

Four finals down, two to go tomorrow (gym and biology) and I'm not terribly stressed about either and at eleven tomorrow morning....I WILL BE FREE.

A sweet sweet feeling. To celebrate, my friend Haley and I are going to get ice cream, and then it is just sweet sweet summer. Yayness.

And my brother has to go to school the next day...and I am SO going to laugh evilly at him on Friday morning when he has to get up and go to school while I have to do absolutely nothing.

Hello to Goodbye

2011-06-13T08:09:00.000-04:00

Hello end of school! Goodbye classes! Hello summer! Goodbye to school!

Today is my final day of freshman classes before three days of finals (which I'm really not that worried about) and summer. Finals though aren't even really days of actual school though because you only have to go for your test blocks, etc.

I had my last biology, band, history, and gym classes last Friday so today is my last study hall (which I am sitting in right now), and last english, french, and geometry classes.

Now, I often like to compare what I thought of my classes and teachers at the beginning of the year, and at the end of the year. Some of you may remember this chart that I had made and put on here after four days of classes.

So, a comparison.

Honors Biology

Fall: Lots of homework, but good teacher and great class!

Spring: My first impression was pretty much correct. Bio WAS a lot of work, but my teacher really knew what she was talking about and I learned so much. Though I am kind of glad that I am done with the class just because it was a lot of work and I'm ready for summer, I really did enjoy the majority of this class.

Concert Band

Fall: Awesome! Only two trumpets and I get to play first.

Spring: Well, there did end up being four trumpets, but I still was the sole lead. I really did love playing first all the time and of course talking to my band buddies was a lot of fun. My teacher? Eh...really didn't like him much although he was much better from the end of March on. It was still good though because it was fun to play with some other really great players and friends.

World History

Fall: Seems good. Like the teacher.

Spring: Yes, history was a good class. We had a lot of really rowdy people in our class but I think I learned a lot and I really enjoyed my teacher. She was really great.

Phys. Ed.

Fall: Eh...not my favorite.

Spring: Gym was never my favorite class, but there were some things that were fun. Like badminton! And I did have a good group of friends in this class which was nice. Also I thoroughly enjoyed the time my teacher brought in cupcakes....she was a pretty good teacher.

Study Hall

Fall: Kinda boring for a whole 85 minutes

Spring: Same. Though sometimes I would get good work done, study hall was mostly just absolute boredom. Spent most of my time reading Harry Potter and trying not to listen to endless conversations about lacrosse.

English

Fall: Good class, not sure about the teacher.

Spring: Let's just say THANK GOODNESS NEXT BLOCK IS MY LAST ENGLISH CLASS. I will be celebrating so much afterwards. I was sooooo right about being unsure about the teacher because he was pretty awful. I won't go into details, but he was just awful. Which made the class not a good class. So happy to be rid of THIS class!

French

Fall: Love class, really good teacher.

Spring: Oh goodness...I was so wrong. Most boring class, very annoying teacher, also very very happy that it is my last class today. Too bad I have the same teacher for the rest of high school French.

Geometry

Fall: Not that bad, actually kind of fun!

Spring: Pretty much the same. Although it was not fun, it was a regular class in which I learned a lot and wasn't too stressful. It was good.

Ahh. I'm glad it's almost over.

Finally, A Final Product

2011-06-10T17:25:00.000-04:00

Completion.

Victory is mine.

I finished the main writing of this piece a little while ago but then I had to format it for all the parts. Like the score only has the four basic parts, but there are a LOT more. I've got trumpet 1, trumpet 2, clarinet 1, clarinet 2, flute, oboe, alto saxophone, french horn, and trombone/tuba/other bass instruments.

I am extremely please at how it turned out, and I cannot wait to play it at camp in about two weeks. It also serves a dual purpose for camp because we're supposed to bring something that we've created and I'm just going to bring this instead of slaving over a painting or something. I've already slaved over this.....although it was not really work for me because it was very fun.

Anyway, the main point is that I am very happy with it. Yay me.

Also, today was the last day for half my classes! Woot! Except for the final, no more biology, no more band, no more history and NO MORE GYM. (The last one in particular makes me very excited)

I can't believe freshman year is almost over....here comes SUMMER!

Standing At The Brink

2011-06-09T08:49:00.000-04:00

Yes, this blessed time of year has come, the time of year when there is only one week of school left before it is SUMMER.

Sure, there are finals next week which won't be pleasant, but after 11:30 next Thursday...

I. AM. FREE!!!

No more freshman year, just ready for a really awesome summer, which I am pretty much already prepared for, because i happen to plan things ahead. A lot....

Of course, either like this weekend or right after school gets out I need to do a bit of shopping because I am finding that I am kinda low on good summer-wear. I think a trip to Goodwill is in order, plus a haircut would be nice too.

And as soon as school gets out, I am ready to have some FUN.

My first big thing is of course the fact that I get my driver's permit on JUNE 20.

On the 26th I head off to Pilgrim Lodge, then band camp, the Pilgrim lodge again, then a mission trip, and during that time you guys get to enjoy no less than TWENTY-FOUR amazing guest posts by twenty-four amazing bloggers. Pretty sweet, right?

I'm pumped for PL, especially this first week because that's what I arranged Bring Him Home for, to use in my instrumental music workshop. It's gonna be fun. Band camp too, I've been working like crazy on my audition pieces because honestly, I REALLY want lead trumpet...and well, I would really REALLY like first chair....

We're also doing a bunch of planning and getting ready for out mission trip which will be great too.

After that I come back to blogging, and I'm not sure what is happening the first few weeks of August, but on the 22nd....the 2011 marching band season begins! It is going to be a really awesome summer, but I really wish it was here right now instead of in a week though. I wish it was here instead of me just standing on the brink looking at finals.

When Allergies Attack

2011-06-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

Now, if you've been reading with me on Treble Clef for a while, even back to its very beginning as Cornet Crazie in Action (What was I thinking????? Treble Clef is soooo much better) or even if you are a newer reader you may have gotten the impression that I'm not the healthiest person ever.

No, I eat fine, I try and stay active, I'm thin and fit.

But I get sick. A lot.

But you know what?

This year has been pretty good actually, health-wise.

No swine flu, or concussions, or tendonitis, or bronchitis, or really bad asthma attacks, or pneumonia, or the regular flu, or sinus infections, or weird things that the doctor doesn't know what they are....it's been good.

I was out sick a couple of times but just because of little 24 hour stomach bugs and stuff.

These past few weeks my allergies haven't even been that bad, though the pollen level was high. My meds were working like they're supposed to, everything seemed under control.

However, yesterday, my allergies decided to gather the troops and pull a full frontal attack on me. Those nasty, lousy, sneaky, evil allergies.

It started in the morning.

I was a little stuffier than usual and it was affecting my singing in church just a bit. At graduation (which was awesome, although they forgot a word in the Pledge of Allegiance {oops...}, and it was also kinda sad leaving some friends) we were outside and had just mowed and stuff so I was more stuffy and was sneezing a bit.

Things got worse after I got home and did some work in the garden and by dinnertime I had a killer sinus headache. (hate those so much)

Getting to sleep was an adventure. Bloddy nose, not able to get anything actually out of my nose, I was a mess. (And it didn't help that my eye makeup came off my eyes OK, but refused to come off my face making me look like a legit raccoon)

Let's just say it was an ordeal.

Today, was even worse.

Today the allergies continued their evil attack on me, much to my displeasure, and seemed bent on destructing my day.

It all started when I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all.

Oh and the fact that my nose wouldn't stop being so awfully stuffy.

And I really didn't appreciate how the Sudafed that I took didn't help one bit.

First block biology was pretty chill and we didn't have to do much of anything so I got through that OK.

Band pretty much condemned me. Our teacher made us play, and of course, being lead trumpet takes a lot out of you even when you're at the top of your game.

By the end of that class, I was pretty much equal to a slug.

My head was pounding with a sinus headache, blowing my nose made things worse, I was coughing occasionally, and also sneezing, my voice was deep and slurred, and there were really dark circles under my eyes that had nothing to do with my makeup-raccoon disaster last night.

I stumbled through the first part of history and then lunch, barely listening, and then I seriously totally zoned out and pretty much fell asleep during the second half.

WHAT???? I never ever fall asleep in class. It's just not something I do. I'm usually the one who is always chipper and raising my hand all the time.

Thank goodness for understanding history teachers....

Oh and my question is....WHY CAN I FALL ASLEEP IN CLASS BUT NOT AT NIGHT???

After history was gym which was torture because it was outside and also my nose decided to have a rather bloody revolt getting blood all over my face. Not cool.

And then I had three hours of driver's ed.

And my brother's baseball game.

And now I'm dreading the night and and even more vicious attack of the allergies tomorrow.

Allergies. Oh you evil, evil allergies...

I hate you. And to take a line from Sue Sylvester, the evil cheerleading coach on Glee,

Allergies, you must be 'annihilated into oblivion'. NOW.

SAT (i survived)

2011-06-04T12:23:00.000-04:00

As you can see, because I am typing this....

I SURVIVED THIS MORNING'S SAT!

That makes me quite happy. Now I just hope that I got a god score....I would love to get a 700 or above, we'll see if that actually happens.

The test wasn't that bad though. There were some questions I had no clue what the answer was but for the majority of them I knew the answer or could eliminate several choices and then make my guess.

I'm pretty relieved that it's over....now I have to study for finals because those start in a little over a week.

Also later today is my second actual driving lesson on the road. I had my first one on Thursday, and it went very well! I drove all around and didn't hit anything which is always good. After today....6 more driving hours and 21 more classroom hours, and that permit should be in my hand by 5:30pm on June 20th.

Also, I can't believe how soon the school year is to ending! I mean, finals in a week or so, SAT today, last night I played Pomp & Circumstance with about 20 other people (in a space that was about 20 square foot area) for the senior awards night and tomorrow is their graduation which I'm playing at too.

The end sure is coming quickly!

Um...Tornado?

2011-06-01T19:51:00.001-04:00

Once upon a time I was obsessed with the weather.

I wanted to be a meteorologist when I grew up.

This no longer really appeals to me, but I do still check the weather often because it does change so rapidly around here. I'm always on the hour-by-hour forecast, especially in the winter when I'm trying to figure out whether I actually need to do my homework because the next day might be a snow day.

I use it all year round too though and I find it really helpful.

In the summer I'm frequently checking the thunderstorm forecast map, and the severe alerts map, and sometimes the doppler radar, although not as much.

This morning, I heard there where going to be some thunderstorms tonight, and sure enough the hour by hour and thunderstorm map told me as such.

I was excited because I happen to enjoy these storms very much, although not the really really bad ones.

I was sad today in English when we heard thunder, but the storm didn't actually come.

Anyway, so I was it a good mood through school, la-dee-da, I went to driver's ed, then went to my trumpet lesson, no storm yet, la-dee-da, and got home and sat down at the computer and checked weather.com.

Hour-by-hour said thunderstorms.

It also said that I had a severe alert in my area. Thinking it was about the thunderstorm, I ignored it.

I checked the thunderstorm map.

OK, so severe thunderstorms. Alright, I can deal with that. Thunderstorms, no problem.

Next, I clicked the next bookmark on my nav bar to go to the severe alerts map.

OK weather.com, here's where we come to the problem. Those bright red rectangles there? Those are very scary rectangles.

They mean tornadoes.

And I don't like tornadoes at all.

I used to think they were really cool and awesome and still terrifying, but now they're just terrifying.

Long story short....I almost got run over by one at an amusement park on a band camp field trip last summer. Really scary. Pretty much something out of one of my nightmares. I do tend to have a lot of nightmares about tornadoes......and I'm always in the car and they just keep appearing everywhere and coming towards me....I can vividly picture about five different tornado dreams/nightmares. Eep. Anyhoo...the point here.

Thunderstorms. No tornadoes, k?

*UPDATE* no tornadoes yesterday....but we're still under tornado watch for today

March Through The Sun

2011-05-30T18:45:00.000-04:00

Today? Uh....BRUTAL.

I woke up and honestly, the fact that I showered really didn't mean much after the parade.

Right away I checked the hour by hour forecast online, and learned that it was extremely humid, and also in the high 70's-mid 80's.

Now in middle school, these temperatures are uncomfortable when you're in uniform, but it's ok to deal with. Middle school uniform is only jeans and the band t-shirt, you see. I honestly got a little annoyed when I heard middle schoolers complaining about the heat and having to wear full length jeans.

I mean REALLY? Did they not see what the high school marching band was wearing?

I don't have any pics from today yet, but I was able to grab one from the fall when we were lining up for our formal photo so you can see what our uniforms sorta are like.

^^Seriously only like 2 of six rows of the band. And of course I'm in front. Because I'm short. I'm the fourth one in the right in the front row in fact.

So, as you can see, our uniforms consist of black bib pants, black marching shoes, black gloves, heavy formal jackets, and Aussie hats with plumes, although we went without the plumes today. :'(
Only our faces show, which means during the cold shows in the fall, we're kept nice and toasty. Today, we were too toasty. Way too toasty.

We were in uniform at eight this morning, and did warm-ups and block before going to the beginning of the parade where we just waited around and roasted for a bit before step-off at ten-thirty. I had already begun to overheat and the sun was still hiding behind some clouds!
Of course, right at step-off the sun decided to show its bright shining face and make the temperature spike yet again.
This of course made the whole of the rather long parade route almost unbearable in our stifling uniforms.
Sticky, sweaty, gross, you have NO IDEA how relieved I was at the end of the parade to be able to strip off my jacket, and pull off my gloves and hat. Felt soooo good.
Now I know why they wait to collect and clean the uniforms until AFTER Memorial Day....

Anyway, after the parade I also had my first driver's ed class which was good! It's back to school tomorrow which I'm not that excited about, but I'll deal with it. It's the home stretch after all!

Parade Prep

2011-05-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

Ahhh. It's been a long day. Church, baseball game with youth ministry and an end of season YM cookout. Would've gotten pics if my camera had battery....but it didn't.

Since we got home though I've been prepping for the parade tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it because I love marching band and even though compared to competition parades are quite boring, it's still really fun. However, I'm also really NOT looking forward to it because it's supposed to be like 80º tomorrow morning and it will be stifling with our uniforms on.

I'm all ready for tomorrow morning though. I took my uniform bib pants out of the hall closet and made sure they were still properly creased, and I dug out my drill masters and cleaned them up with some vaseline. Now they're really really shiny!

I also had to get my marching trumpet out and make sure that it still worked......I honestly haven't played it since last season because in concert band, jazz band, and pit band I play my pro horn.

(That's my pro horn on top, my marching one is on the bottom....oh how I simply LOVE double cases)

Needless to say...the valves and slides were really sticky and there was gunk coating the inside of the leadpipe and valves. Now my hands are covered with a mixture of valve oil, slide grease, and green trumpet gunk. Eww. What can I say? Life of a trumpet player. (for example, I honestly emptied my spit valve on my foot about five times during my concert on Thursday. It was quite disgusting.)

I also practiced my music, and I have it all memorized, it's a very cool rendition of Sousa's 'Stars & Stripes Forever' and it also has the theme from Superman stuck onto the end of it which is a bit odd but also really awesome.

Anyway, that's my plan for tomorrow. Parade, marching band barbecue.....and my first driver's ed class! What are you doing to celebrate Memorial Day?

Feels Like Summer

2011-05-28T15:40:00.000-04:00

It is a really good feeling when it feels like summer, and there are always these little signs that make me switch my mind from spring into full-blown summer mode. Sometimes this can be a bit of a problem when it starts feeling like summer in March and there's still several months of school left. Not good.

It feels like summer because I know that school will soon be over. Teachers are talking about finals pretty much every class, my SAT is a week from today, senior graduation is also in a week, we've had our final concert (it went really well!), we've hit our last long weekend, and teachers are starting to tell us we need to start studying for our final. It also makes me really really happy that I shouldn't have to have some of my teachers ever again. Which is good.

It also feels like summer because of what I'm wearing. I'm routinely walking around in flip flops, skinny jeans with the bottoms rolled up and cute summer tops. Light and floaty and summer-y. Awesome.

I think that the biggest indicator for me though, is that heavenly summer smell that drifts through my window. You know....the one that smells like grass and sun and wind and dirt and grills and amazingness? It is probably my most favorite smell. Just beautiful.

What makes you feel like it's summer?

Here Comes The Sun

2011-05-26T14:57:00.000-04:00

Jocee at the Cupcake Dictionary is having a blog party! It's perfect because it's called the 'Here Comes The Sun: Blog Party' and then sun has finally been out and shining brightly these past few days around here.

So link up, it's going to be a lot of fun and to participate in some of it I'm going to do her little question/answer thingy.

What would your dream summer vacation be? Personally I love my summer vacations already because I get to spend them doing some of the things that I love most, being at Pilgrim Lodge, band camp and marching band :)
After a rainstorm, what you think of when you see the sun peeking out from the clouds? Usually I'm like 'THANK GOODNESS. It's rained far to long, now let's have some SUN!'
If you were stranded on a desert island with the sun streaming down on you and had ONE palm tree for shade, you can only have three things with you; what would they be? Well, since I'm a logical person, I would have a BIG container filled with drinking water, that could also catch rainfall, I would have a giant beach umbrella that would shade me from the sun and that I could huddle under in the rain, and I would also have a fishing line so I could catch something to eat.
Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or neapolitan? Well, considering I'm a terrible decision maker, neapolitan.
If you saw your celebrity crush walking down the beach with a surfboard, what would you do? Uh...faint? I don't even HAVE a celebrity crush...
If you went back in time for a day, what era would you go back to, and why? Sally no like these questions....Sally like where she live now....
What's your favorite thing about waking up on a summer morning? NO SCHOOL!!!!! YAY!
Your soundtrack or theme song(s) for the summer: for the summer? The marching band show! So basically, my soundtrack for this summer will be National Treasure.
Say you went to California to visit family. What's the first thing you would buy? Well, since it's hot in California, and I'm addicted to ice cream, I would buy ice cream.
Manicure, pedicure, or facial? Pedicure. Things get scraped off my fingernails too easily.
What's your favorite color combination? I enjoy a soft green, blue and yellow, or a bright red, black and white.
If you were at the beach and you wanted to write a message in the sand, what would you write? I do like drawing in the sand but I don't usually write anything, I just draw treble clefs. If I was going to write something I would probably have no inspiration whatsoever and end up writing something lame like 'Sally was here.'
You're stuck in Paris with $10,000. What do you do? Ahh Paris....I miss it so much. From my experience there, I would probably blow it all on baguette and crêpes and pastries and chocolate......
What's your most favorite type of summer weather? When it's early evening and the worst of the heat is gone and it's not very humid and there's just a slight breeze and the scent of sweet grass and barbecue flots through the air.
Blowing bubbles while taking a bubble bath? Uh...YES. That sounds awesome.
Cupcakes or dictionaries? What kind of a question IS this? CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!

Heehee, that was fun. I guess I'm off now to ready my trumpet and trombone, we've got out spring concert tonight and I think it should go really well!

Darkening Clouds

2011-05-24T15:43:00.000-04:00

Methinks that a storm might just be on the way.

It's been muggy and hot all day, and a storm would actually be much appreciated. I enjoy thunderstorms so....yeah.

The clouds outside my window have been growing steadily darker ever since I got home from marching band and I thought that I would snap a few pics of them because they were pretty cool.

These pictures were all taken within a time span of like only five minutes and it's pretty crazy how much different the last ones are from the first ones :)

And they just keep getting darker and more and more keep coming. I can't see the blue sky any more!

It'll be like those great summer days where it's hot and humid all day and you can feel the storm hanging in the air, you can smell it....it's great.

I can feel that storm building, and it seems like weather.com agrees with me:

So ready for the storm :)

Back to Marching

2011-05-23T16:52:00.000-04:00

Well....not really.

But this afternoon I was with the rest of the marching band as we practiced for the Memorial Day Parade in a week. We were only inside doing music prep as we won't actually go out and march until parade day, but it was pretty awesome and fun nonetheless.

I honestly love marching band so much.

So much power in the music we play. The intensity. The complex drill movements.

Oh! I get shivers just thinking about it.

Sure, this is just a parade so we only have to march in a block and be able to play Stars and Stripes Forever with a fanfare and be able to snap our horns up and down, but still, it's marching band.

Playing in the band room today just playing with that totally awesome sound that only a marching band can get was just amazing. I lovelovelove it sososo much.

Of course it helps being the best band in the state....

Anyway, today has made me long for marching band season to come.

Because marching band is epic.

And we're doing music from the movie National Treasure, which has a great soundtrack.

And I officially signed up to be in the 2011 band today...

....and I was first on the list.....

And there are only 80 more days until it starts!

And I am super excited. Super. Excited.

Can you tell how much I love marching band? I'm so going to have to go to a college that has a good one.

Well, sorry for the hyper, excited post, I'm off to rock the house on trombone at jazz band!

Hello 8-0-0

2011-05-21T16:40:00.000-04:00

(And just a note on the above image....I HATE pink. But it finally didn't rain today so I felt springy and needing some pink in my post)

But aside from pink.....HAPPY 800th POST ON TREBLE CLEF!!!!!!!

This is exciting, my 800th post. It's certainly a landmark! 800 posts, two and a third years of action, 164 followers, Treble Clef is booming, and it will only continue to get even better and better.

So, yay me, yay Treble Clef, yay awesome followers.

I'm not going to be doing anything special for this occasion, but there are several things that I'd like to put into this post.

First, I know my posts have been a little less regular than usual. This is just due to a slightly more boring and less exciting life this past week. I dunno how it happened....but relaxing was pretty good. And I went onto Netflix and started watching Glee. I'm now a Glee addict....what can I say? It's hilarious! Anyway, I should be posting more this week because my life gets busier and more exciting again. Tomorrow, my church is having an all-church game of capture the flag, which should be awesome. Monday I've got jazz and it's back to the marching band to to get ready for the parade next Monday, Thursday I have what will be an epic spring concert, and Memorial day weekend is big because of the parade and also I START DRIVER'S ED. Awesomeness. It should be a good week. I'm hoping for minimal homework, as I still need to be reading my one section a day for that SAT of mine.

So I should be posting more :)

More stuff about this blog is....

~~I have sent an email to my dear friend Olivia, who does all the designing for Treble Clef about a new summer design,~~ *update* She has agreed to my request and will be creating a new look very soon!

Speaking of summer, I have an important announcement to make.

I am going to be away from home pretty much all but like four days from June 26-July 31 and I don't want to leave the blog inactive, so I'm looking for a multitude of guest posters for that time period. Email me at trebleclefblog@gmail.com if you are interested!

I think that's all, once again, happy 800!

A Depressing Forecast

2011-05-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know about where all of you guys live, but the weather forecast around here is pretty much depressing.

In other words, it's rained since last Saturday.

and

on.

It refuses to let up.

So today in biology, I had a free moment, so I looked up the most recent forecast, which said that it was going to be raining through Saturday.

And then Sunday and Monday, it's supposed to be quite nice and sunny. High 50ºs, mid 60ºs, going to be some good normal May in Maine weather, which is awesome after all this rain.

Except for the fact that after Monday,

it's

going

rain

for

another

whole

week.

Honestly? This is just sad.

I'm working wicked hard in school right now, studying hard for the SAT, practicing a bunch of audition and performance pieces, and it's not even nice out to distract me and take my mind off of quadratic equations and meiosis/mitosis, and circle theorems and immune system structure and function.....

And I know distraction is usually viewed as a bad thing....but.....I really wouldn't mind some right now.