arm flapping and choral conducting

Tomorrow is my last "unofficial" day at the high school I've been student teaching at.

Allow me to explain.

My last "official" day was on the 29th because I had to turn in all my paper work for my class... and graduate this past Saturday which was joyous.

But my last "unofficial" day is tomorrow because I've been hanging around until the final concert which brings me to my point...

Tomorrow evening will be the official choral conducting debut of my career as a music educator.

I'm pumped... and nervous.

I will probably be shaking...

my hands...

my knees...

it may be difficult to follow my cues...

but we'll get through.

And when it's all said and done I'll be able to say that I had a greatly talented mentoring teacher and an incredible group of students to use as guinea pigs for my first conducting experience in the art of musical arm flapping.

It will be great... and then I will have my last official "visit" the next day... 

on donut day... 

to celebrate.  

Wish me luck!

Grad

I am now an official alumnus of the UMKC Conservatory.

I {we} have been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Thanks to all those who were there to support me along the way...

...friends who stressed and conquered with me...

...professors who stretched and challenged me...

...family who encouraged and believed in me...

...and a wonderful husband who listened to hours of worrisome whining, wiped countless tears of frustration and spoke endless words of love and encouragement...

The day of celebration for all of that hard work has arrived...

...and I will make no attempt to contain my excitement!

Angie

Today my sister, Angie, underwent her second brain surgery in a fight to kick cancer's butt.

A few years ago she was first diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain tumor (which I can neither pronounce nor spell) and stage 3 cancer.  For those unfamiliar with cancer, it is usually discussed in stages of severity ranging from 1-4.

A new growth was recently discovered and so at approximately 7:30 this morning, she was put under anesthesia as her surgeon prepared to remove this second mass from her brain.

Needless to say, it was a bit of a long day.

Surgery went well.  Very well.

Probably as wonderful as could possibly be wished or imagined.

The Dr. said he was able to remove everything he was hoping to and the whole procedure was finished in just a few hours, which was much faster than we had been anticipating.

Even once she was awake in the ICU room, Ang was much more interactive and responsive than she had been after her previous surgery.  We joked and laughed a bit... it was good to see her so strong.

One minor concern was that she had been unable to move her right foot after waking and though the Dr. wasn't concerned, the surgery had taken place right next to the motor skills portion of her brain which can leave room for some anxiety on the matter.  However, praise the Lord, I was just told a few moments ago that she is moving her legs and doing great.  Her brain was just in a bit of a tizzy -- needed some time to be remember what it was supposed to do with those extremities.  ;)

Things are going great and looking up.

I'm sure there's still quite a long road to travel as she continues to battle any remaining cells that are tumorous/cancerous, but praise be to our Heavenly Father that He has brought her this far safely.  

To Him be the glory.

Please say a prayer for Angie, her recovery and continuing battle, 

if you think of her as you go about this next week.

Job Hunting, Home Remodling & Graduation, Oh My!

Thaaat's pretty much my life!

...and 99% of the reason you haven't seen me on HERE in a while.  

But I sure have missed blog land.

However, readers, you would not believe some of the transformation that's been taking place in our home since we've last talked!

Our main level (dining room, living room, entry, stairwell and upstairs landing) are all painted with "Spice Delight" now (a pale yellow), we have the beginnings of our garden growing on a table under the window in the guest bedroom and the rock wall to form our garden was built in the back yard by my hubby (with the unexpected help from my cousin-in-law, Ryan) a couple of weekends back. 

The fabric I showed you here has arrived and I picked that up this week, along with the paint to do our kitchen (Seascape, aka: robin's egg blue) and the interior sides of our exterior doors as well as an accent wall at the top of our stairs (English Saddle, aka: mocha brown).  

Wednesday I began work on a new project/gift for my soon-to-arrive niece, Baby Kinley Reece.  I can't wait to show it to you, but that will have to wait until after the shower next weekend, lest the surprise be ruined!  

Oh yes, did I mention that in the midst of our painting and home renovations I'm hosting a shower for my sister next weekend?  I realize this must sound insane to some of you... but I'm looking at it as a way to give myself a painting deadline... and boy has it helped to kick me in gear!  I don't regret it one bit... so far.  ;)  Juuust kidding.  I truly am a person in need of a deadline to get me moving, so this was the perfect excuse.

Speaking of deadlines...

I (we) have accomplished a few and are nearing the accomplishment of a few more items from my "101 in 1001" list!  I'll be posting an update soon!  =)

Chair Fabric

The fabric to reupholster our $5 garage sale, super comf chairs is in.

A coral/salmon color close to that fabric is going to be used as an accent color so this was me making sure it looked cute together... I like.  =)

The walls have their first coat of "spice delight" as of yesterday.

Also my super amazing hubs built the stone wall for our garden in the backyard this weekend.  Shout out to my awesome (and well timed) cousin-in-law, Ryan, who showed up to help!

It's like our long awaited dreams and plans for our home are beginning to take shape.

Very exciting.