Blessed

So its official. We will be relocating to Salt Lake City at the end of the year. Its official because Colin got the job!!! He will live in SLC when he starts at the end of July and through next semester while I stay here and finish up school. By January, we will be in SL together. It's a great opportunity for our family to get a head start on life after BYUI. The Lord has blessed us with such amazing opportunities and we are so very grateful. Wish us luck as we prepare for a new phase of our lives!!!!

Baroque Ensemble

Baroque this semester was awesome!! I had the opportunity to play the five-string baroque cello. Brother Tueller played the guitar, theorbo and cello. not all at the same time... although that would have been sweet to watch. Colin said the concert seemed like a Brother Tueller variety show! Also, Matt played the Violone.

The school just bought some viola de gambas! They are a little bit smaller than cellos and are so much fun to play! I hope I'll be able to learn how to play it.

PS This is what a theorbo is.

The Borealis String Quartet

This week, the Borealis String Quartet came to BYU- Idaho. They have been coaching and teaching the string students here. It has been an opportunity of a lifetime. Your quartet being coached by one or two of these people at a time?? Definite amazing opportunity.

They played a concert on Thursday night and it was sensational. They started with a light and fun Haydn Quartet followed by an emotional performance of Shostakovich's string Quartet. I was amazed as they filled the entire concert hall with loud color then suddenly have everyone on the edge of their seats with their intense quiet passages. The Grieg was the icing on the cake. They did two encores and still had a house of everyone on their feet. It has kept me on a musical high for days.

Friday afternoon, each studio(violin, viola, cello...) had their separate masterclass. I played in ours and it was a great lesson. It was healthy to perform in front of everyone and get a different perspective on how to approach the Cello Suites. Thank you Shih-Lin Chen for the masterclass lesson. It was so much fun!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day Dad and Dad!! We love you both very much!

Stormy skies

Rain clouds. A familiar sight this time of year.

Possibilities

Ok its June people. June. The semester is more than half over.

I just registered for my last semester of coursework which doesn't seem real.

Its amazing how far I have come. I was sitting with a friend as she practiced and told me her frustrations in learning the cello.

There are so many walls. So many hurdles. She has come so far.

As I thought more, so have I.

I thought about how I played when I first came to school here. I couldn't play a scale with a concrete fingering. What a joke. My teacher even asked me if I was sure I wanted to be a music major. I was that bad.

I felt so lost when I came to BYU-Idaho. I knew where I wanted to go but didnt know how to get there. That was over two years ago.

I am giving an hour long recital in the Fall. In it, I will play an entire Bach cello suite memorized, an entire Mendelssohn Sonata with my sister accompanying me and a Popper requiem with some of my closest friends. Things are going so well. How could it get any better?

Then I think of where I will be a few years from now.

Colin will be working.

I'll be a mom.

Maybe I'll have students.

Maybe I'll have a garden.

Maybe I'll live by a sister.

Maybe I'll steal away late at night and fulfill the guilty pleasure of playing my beautiful cello.

Maybe I'll have a piano.

Maybe I'll leave my husband home for a weekend and go visit Mom.

The possibilities are endless. But whichever of those possibilities manifest themselves will be better than the best future I could dream up.

So things will be different. But the future will always be good. Whatever it is.