I Love Summer

School is out for the summer & I am really enjoying my time off of work! People always wonder if I go crazy not having anything to do during the day, but I haven't yet! I can always find something to do. I guess I have always been that way. These last 10 days have been occupied by cleaning house, running errands, cleaning up my iTunes library, planning our Great Britian trip, watching a lot of Netflix (I have become hooked on various BBC shows), and catching up on the summer movie releases. I'm also branching out with my cooking skills & practicing on the grill. My sister's baby shower was last weekend & we also attended the Utah Scottish Festival & Highland games. I picked up a new CD from a tribal celtic music group called the Wicked Tinkers. I really want to share a song of theirs, but I can't find any way to upload the file to my blog or to facebook! Anyway, if things continue like this, summer will fly by!

Some Things are Worth Getting Up at 5AM For...

As some of you may know, my friend & I are planning a trip to Great Britian this summer. It has been my life-long dream to visit Scotland, my ancestral home. Because London is so close, we're taking a few extra days & visiting England, too. I am so excited for the trip, I can barely stand the wait. It's like waiting for Christmas morning when I was little; when my brother & I would stay up 'till the wee hours of the morning to sneak out to the living room and poke around at our presents.

We started planning this trip a year ago, when we became roommates again. About a month ago we nailed down the dates of our trip & were pleased to discover that we'll be arriving in Edinburgh at the start of the summer festival season. That information meant that we needed to make B&B reservations right away. We found an awesome B&B for a great price & made reservations last month. I was so excited that this trip was really happening. We also learned more about the festivals going on & decided we really wanted to visit the Royal Military Tattoo festival while we were there. For more information visit: www.edintatto.co.uk

Basically, its a military performance from tons of military bands & regiments from around the world. The festival runs from August 5 - 27, 2011, with performances every evening except Sunday & two performances on Saturday. They perform in a stadium at the base of the Edinburgh Castle & the grand finale features a combined pipe band performance of Auld Lang Syne & Scotland the Brave. When the finale is finished, they close the program with a lone piper playing on the ramparts of the castle. I get emotional just thinking about it, I can't imagine what it'll be like when I get there!!

Tickets went on sale on Wednesday, December 1st at 10:30AM, Scotland time. That meant 3AM our time. Oh Boy!! I finally pulled myself out of bed at 5AM and click the link. I was immediately entered into a queue that read, "Do to the high demand, you have been entered into a queue. Your position is #1,988 and your estimate wait time is 1 hour 20 min." That information was extremely accurate. At exactly 1 hour 20 min. I was automatically directed to the purchasing site & was pleasently surprised to see good seats available in our price range for the date we wanted!!! I'm so excited to go! The show might be the highlight of the trip!!

Here's a pic of the event:

Let It Snow, Let it Snow!!!

It has been so long since I updated my blog, I couldn't even remember my email address to sign in with! Wow!

Anyway, nothing really exciting is going on. I'm still working at the school & it's keeping me more than busy. Things have been better this year...I have an entire day devoted to just instrumental music classes. I love my B days for that reason. Then A days come & things get a little more challenging. But, the holidays are coming & that means long breaks without any school work. Yippee!!

What I really wanted to post about was the awesome "Winter Blizzard Warning" that has been issued for our state tomorrow afternoon & evening. According to the news reports, a blizzard warning has never been issued for our state. I've got plans Tuesday night, but I'll be happy to cancel them if this storm is as bad as predicted. Thankfully I don't have to work Wednesday morning & I can curl up in my apartment & wait for the storm to pass.

I think the only thing that could ruin this excitement would be if the power goes out. The power went out at my parents house a couple of years ago, during christmas break, & it didn't come back on for three days. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but I made some preparations just in case. I bought some new batteries for my lanterns & flashlights. I bought water & some food that I can eat without cooking. I've located the extra blankets & coats in case it gets really cold. I also filled the gas tank in my car. I'm feeling really "grown up" right now. We'll hope for the best, expect the worst. It's going to be an exciting week!!

I'm Sorry, My Life is Boring

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a long time. Summer was good. I loved every minute of it. I wish I never had to work & I could sleep in & do whatever I felt like doing & didn't have any deadlines or stress. But, there is opposition in all things, every good thing must come to an end, yada, yada yada. At least I know summer will come around again.

School starts on Monday. I've already spent the last two weeks cleaning, spending money, and getting ready. Overall, I feel good about this school year. That good feeling may not last long, but it's been nice so far. I've only had one nightmare. Usually at this time, I've had several. All you teachers out there know exactly what I'm talking about. It's normal "back-to-school" jitters. I'm sure the next week or two will be chaotic, but I know I'll survive, 'cause I've already survived it four times now. :)

In an effort to catch up, I went on two trips this summer. One to Washington DC with my friend Bekah & the other to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons with my family. Megan has posted pics of Yellowstone/Grand Tetons. They're still beautiful. I forgot how much I love the scenery there. Washington DC was awesome! I took tons of pics, but not alot with me in them. I also had a big job interview this summer. My dream band position came available & I interviewed twice for it. Eventually, they offered the position to a colleage of mine who's taught band for A LONG time. When I saw him at the second interview, I knew right away he was going to get it. But the whole process really boosted my confidence as a teacher. Even though nothing has changed for me, my attitude has changed. I feel like I'm on the right track, so far. On a spiritual note, the Lord definately has a plan for me. The path is different from the one I picked, but I need to have faith in Him. I'm here at this point for a reason. I don't know what it is, but I feel a quiet, calm, reassurance that everything is as it should be.

Well, I'm sure life is about to get more exciting now that school has started. I wonder how many lockdowns we'll have this year? I'll let you know!