Study-Time Mania

You know those weeks where life seems to be rushing at you, and despite your best efforts, you can't seem to keep ahead? This would be one of those weeks, which explains why I'm posting on a Sunday once again.
The easiest part of this week was the prep for the Armed Forces Concert Utah Youth is giving tomorrow. I would say come, but people are so supportive of the Armed Forces that there is now standing room only, and unless you already have a ticket, there's no way you'll get in.
The biggest stress this week was ACT study prep. Yup. I'm old enough to take my college entrance exams. I've spent every spare minute since Tuesday night studying like a madwoman. I still feel pretty anxious though. Not because I don't think I'll do well; I average about 31, 32 on practice tests it appears, which will more than get me into college. No, I'm anxious because after Tuesday, I will have taken these exams so colleges can seriously consider me as I begin applying in the next few months. And of course, my parents would definetly prefer I get the best scholarship I can, so I've got to do well on the ACT so I'm not still living in the basement with an Associates degree when I'm 25.
Am I being melodramatic? Oh, definetly. But really, getting a good education is HUGE at my house. I WILL push myself to accomplish everything I can; there's no doubt about that, but I'm just a little worried about this, just like I am for every concert and test.
On the flip side, I may be so dead-tired Tuesday morning that I fly through the test (just like I do every other) and then nap in the ten minutes I'll have between sections. As it is, I'm already grateful for the interventions of Katie and Rachel on behalf of my sanity. If not for them, I probably would have studied for 12 hours yesterday, and then woken up this morning not remembering a thing. But, they insisted we study together, and once we'd studied for a few hours, they insisted my brain needed a break. So (quite compliantly) I let them force me to watch Thor and Captain America, and made Chicken Alfredo. I am now quite convinced that if not for these breaks in my studying, I'd be a vegetable right about now, still with a ton of homework, and dead-asleep on the couch.
So, I will continue to study where I have time for the next day and a half, and hopefully, I will get at least a 31 on Tuesday, because I really, really, really want that good score! Oh, and I'll try not to die from not giving my poor brain a break. (Wish me luck on that one!) Toodles!

Sweethearts

Sorry, I know I missed last week, but on the flip side, since I missed blogging, I have something interesting to blog about this week! Last week was spent getting ready for Solo and Ensemble (and that will hopefully be my last music post for a while) and getting everything ready for the Sweethearts dance on Saturday.
Yes, this is another dance related post. But, the more I think about it, the more I'm forced to face the fact that a lot of high school life revolves around dances. And quite honestly, I don't mind. If anything, since I always go in a huge group with my friends, dances are a great chance to hang out with my friends and just have fun.
Friday (and a lot of Saturday) was all prep for the dance. It was INSANE. Quite literally. I had rehearsal all day friday, and I was in charge of the cookies for dessert. And the best part? My family was sick, and I desperately needed help with the cookies, so I found myself going to Katie's house spur-of-the-moment so that i could make several dozen cookies. 8:30, we finally get started on the dough that had to sit for two hours. Holy cow. I didn't get done baking until about 12:15, four hours later, with plans to be up and moving by 9:30, and to just go-go-go until about 1 or 1:30 the next night. I was tired, I was stressed, and I'm really sorry for anyone who had to put up with a cranky Emily, because she really isn't fun. Sadly, I forgot about taking pictures of my stained-glass cookies, but I'll make them again soon (NOT FOR A DANCE AT 9:00 THE NIGHT BEFORE), so that you can revel in their complete awesomeness.

But the stress turned out to be so worth it! I had so much fun with everyone! I couldn't have asked for a better group. Yes, we all have mustaches. My favorite part of this? They were made of chocolate! Chocolate mustaches. I see them catching on. Do you agree? Mustaches are just so amazing (if you've ever seen me and my mustaches, you'll understand this I fear), and chocolate is just as amazing as mustaches. Put them together, and it's twice the awesomeness!

We also had fun making designs with the chocolate. Conveniently, we only had the mustache mold, so we just started drizzling all the different colors of chocolate. That's me and my date, Curtis. Our chocolate was a work of ART. However, we learned that art doesn't always taste so good, in fact it can be downright nast. Apparently, milk, white, and mint chocolate don't taste so great together.....

And finally, me and the dazzlingly gorgeous Katie. Aren't we so adorable.? I'm so glad that I had the chance to go with so many people I love so much! Saturday, once we got to it, was so much fun, and I'd (probably- nah, definetly) do it again in a heartbeat. Love you guys! Toodles!

Skill

I feel so incredibly awesome. Wanna know why? I know you do. I made those. Yup. I am just that talented.
Aren't they spiffy? I think they are potentially the most EPIC thing I have ever made. Which is saying something, because I have had many projects like these; the difference being that they usually only get worked on for a week or two, and then they're forgotten. These should technically have only taken me a weekend, but they got forgotten in my yarn basket for a few months, meaning that it wasn't until one chilly February night that I actually got these cozy slippers. And if you can't tell, I'm kind of in love with them.
I got the idea a few months ago while reading online. I saw a picture of these slippers, and thought to myself "I can make that!" And so I did. P.S. I'm sorry to whoever had the original idea, but you are amazing! These are the most comfortable slippers EVER.
So what's brought on this sudden productivity? Well, as always, I've been procrastinating practicing, but that's nothing new. That, and I'm going through one of those phases I get every so often where I HAVE to have yarn or fabric in my hands. I don't know why, but I do. So, potentially expect more pictures (hopefully better looking ones) of my craftiness!

Updates!

This week was one of those long February weeks that seem to drag on forever. Nothing exciting is going on in high school; there's still a good chunk of time before the next dance, and there's always more homework than you know what to do with. Add to this that everyone is either sleep deprived, or has a cold, or both.
Are you getting an image of a very sleepy, stressed, but still unimagineably awesome group of teenagers? Good. Because that was my life this week. I'm grateful these lulls only happen every two months or so, because otherwise, I do believe that I would cut myself with a rusty spoon.
Of course there were highlights of which I would to speak of.
Last Saturday,I went with some of my friends to see my high school's production of Grease. And let's not lie here. It was amazing! So amazing in fact, that I'm going to go see it again today when one of my friends is playing Sandy. True story.
And getting to see it with my friends was so much fun too! I'm still amazed at how going from one house to another, we always seem to play Just Dance, but I love you guys for making me get up off the couch once in a while! Seriously. One day, I will be fat. Laugh now, but it's the truth. Just Dance may be my saving grace one day.
To briefly touch on my last post, I ruled Federation. This would be that performance I was so terrified about. Ya, I killed it. And by killed, I mean it was AMAZING. Was I scared to death? Oh, yeah. Did I mess up? ... Let's choose not to speak of it. But the important thing was that I know I did my best this time, and my best felt amazing! I'm so happy that I got this second chance to perform this piece, and I'm going to continue to practice my butt off for Solo and Ensemble, which will pop up several times through the next few months.
And the best part???? I convinced my dearly beloved mother that I was quite desperately in need of a full size violin. And she took me to get one! Yes, I am currently the proud owner of a temporarily borrowed violin. I obviously need to practice more so that I can fall one-hundred percent in love with it, but I really really really hope that this works out and that I get this beautiful instrument!
Wish me luck, and I'll try to be more exciting so that I actually have something worth posting next week. Toodles!

A Valuable Lesson

I would love to have that violin. Pink and yellow polka dots. It was just meant to be!
Side note done with, here's my actual post. Yes, the polka-dot vioin is involved. In a way. This past Saturday was my private teacher's annual "Prep for Federation" concert. She does this every year to help get all the jitters out before you go perform your solo in front of judges. Usually, I don't have any sort of problem with this. Usually, I've secretly learned my piece a long time ago, and I'm just being lazy in lessons.
Not this time. For some reason, Mozart's Concerto No. 4 in D Major eludes me. Totally and completely. And this makes no sense! All of the notes are logical, all of the rhythms follow through precisely. It's Mozart, the most technically composer possibly ever for crying out loud! It's my hands and my mind. My mind comprehends the notes, my hands vaguely comprehend how they're supposed to move. But put the two together, and for some reason, they struggle on this piece. I secretly blame it on all of the 1/16th and the 1/8th notes that make me come off the string. For years, I've known spicatto (for you non-string players, that is off the string and bouncy sounding) and string crossings (back and forth across 2 or more strings) are not my strong point. So, it would logically follow that I would put all of my efforts into practicing this concerto and mastering these techniques.
Well, logic has failed me once again! Life happens. What with AP classes, string quartets and Utah Youth, and trying to keep some sort of a social life and/or hobbies (other than music) I only get an hour per day in om average. I should be breaking my butt right now practicing. Instead I'm blogging. See? I'm very good at avoiding the inevitable.
Of course I already know this. Friday night, I was having a near-hysterical outburst after dinner because I knew I wasn't ready for the concert the next day. And even Saturday morning, I was spending all of my time worrying about the concert.
Truthfully, I learned several lessons on Saturday. First and foremost, I learned that practice is essential, and it's not just how much you practice, it's WHAT you practice.
Second, I learned that letting your nerves get to you is not helpful to making you feel good about a performance you're not prepared for. Watching the recording afterwards, I looked like I was about to burst into tears up on the stage because I was so nervous that I heard every mistake and it added to my nerves. Besides that, I made tons of mistakes I've NEVER made before, all because I was so terrified to mess up!
Lastly, I learned that we really are our own worst judges. As I said above, my parents recorded the entire performance. (No, that will not make its way online). I freely admit that for the majority of the piece, I was so nervous my fingers missed notes left and right. However, my rhythms (when the notes were there) were accurate, and I had good tone when I wasn't shaking so hard that my bow only quivered above the string.
I think that overall, I've really learned this week not to be so hard on myself. One bad performance won't determine my life as a violinist or as a person. No one is perfect. No, it's much more important to just enjoy the moment, which I really wish I'd found it in me to do on Saturday. Hopefully when I get another shot this Saturday at Federation, I'll feel more confident and at ease as I massacre it again. Wish me luck!

Oopsiedaisie

Of course right after I announce I'm going to blog every week I miss two in a row! Not that it's all that surprising truthfully. But I had my reasons! And they were good reasons!
Maybe not. The age-old homework excuse will never really go away, sadly. And besides that, it's been the change of semester, so there haven't been any huge tests to study for for two weeks. So there's that.
No, I have two legitimately real reasons. The first, is that I was sick last week. Now that may not sound like an excuse not to blog, however, when I'm sick, I tend to watch a lot of tv. This time, I had three episodes of Once Upon a Time to catch up on, and two more episodes of Psych made it onto hulu, which has become my best friend since our cable box vanished.

In addition to this, my family recently discovered Lie to Me on Netflix. So, all told, I had over 30 hour-long episodes of tv that I absolutely HAD to watch while I was sitting around the house in my pajamas.

My next excuse is far more legitimate. For real this time!
I have been going insane for the past two weeks. Why? Two Wednesdays ago, I got asked to the Junior Prom. It was mucho fun! And there is why I haven't posted for two weeks- I spent all of the weekend before last hunting through stores like a demon for a dress and shoes. When I wasn't shopping, I was trying to get other things ready like a boutonniere, alterations to my dress, figuring out how in the world to dress up my hair (which I've since decided is impossible)..... My mind absolutely exploded! For two weeks now, I've been constantly thinking about Prom.

And I think my insanity paid off. The dance was Saturday, and I had an insanely good time. It was great to see so many of my friends all decked out while dancing ridiculously. I got to feel fabulously gorgeous in an enormous prom dress (only in Utah!), and my feet didn't die after a few hours of tramping through Saturday's storm in heels. The best part of course getting to go out on a date. The guy who asked me is an amazing friend, and I'm sooooooooooo happy he asked me. (The happy-dance resulting from this joy lasted for days). That was probably the most fun I've had at a dance yet. I really hope I get the chance to have this much fun at a dance again before leaving high school.

K, well, that about sums up the past two weeks. Hopefully I get the chance to check in again soon. Toodlies!

Concert at Libby

It's my first week back at school. How am I going to celebrate? With a performance of course!
This sunday will be my first performance with the Utah Youth Philharmonic. Am I excited? Yes! Utah Youth is filled with so many amazing young musicians who are my weekly guilt trip for practicing. They make me jealous! There are tons and tons of musicians who play things I could barely manage, if that. Thus it's probably a good thing that I get an extra incentive to practice!
So, the concert. It's going to be at Libby Gardner Hall at the U this Sunday at 7. Admission is free last I checked, and I would be so psyched to see anyone I know there! It should be fantastic, we're playing Symphony No. 2 by Tchaikovsky, and In the Steppes of Central Asia by Borodin. Be there, or be square!