My mom's on facebook.
YOUR MOM'S on facebook! Zing!

'ELLO PAAAWPIT!

Rocky's version of a proposal
Rocky: "I was wondering what you're doing the next, you know...40 or 50 years."
Adrian: "What?"
Rocky: "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind marrying me too much."

After the wedding when someone asked what he's up to:
"I just got married a little, you know?"

The Yankees are the BEST!!! Tex Mex and CC were great additions to the team. And you gotta love Joba. I love all the guys! We're takin' it all, baby!! yEuh!

Okay, now that that outburst is over with...time to go not do theory.

I'm doing competitions this year...and you can't stop me!

Brain: "C'mon Ashley...it's 1:30 and you still haven't been outside of the apartment. GO DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE!!"
Body: "NO! I DON'T WANNA!"

I can't explain this...but there are some instances, rare ones, when you just know that things could have been really, really wonderful and you both would have been so happy because you both felt it so strongly, so instantly, like fire, and there's no denying that...and even now, when you see only a picture, the emotion boils up inside, just from a picture of a smile. It's totally inexplicable that after just a few short hours with someone, you can look back a year later and still feel the fire burning, just as fiercely as before. And I can't explain why it happens with selected individuals and not others (the selection of people seems totally random to me!)...it doesn't make sense most of the time, and that's the reason why it can never be, because it doesn't make sense.

Someday I'll feel that way and it will make sense.

So nice out tonight! I could've ridden my bike forever. (Maybe not forever. Maybe more like...an hour. Or a half hour. It's kinda the same thing.)

Also...no class again tomorrow? IS THIS ALL GRAD STUDENTS DO?

(j/k...I will be wishing I have no class soon enough. I just want to start school now, darn it!)

I didn't have any class today. Ha!

I did, however, have my audition, in which I realized that I made one really (REALLY) stupid mistake--apparently the whole etude was "Lagrimoso," not just the section titled "Lagrimoso." Uh, yeah. So I practiced about 5 measures of of maybe 30 that I was supposed to practice. Oops...

Anyway, I was quite nervous, as I always am, but I managed to play some things. For being a performance major, it's really ridiculous how nervous I get sometimes. I'm not even really sure what exactly this audition is for, and I'm still nervous. Woo.

Otherwise things are going well. The heat doesn't bother me, I love riding my bike to school, league starts in about a week (I might be a co-captain of a team...yikes), and I'm eating better than before. AND I GET TO PLAY STEINWAY BABY GRANDS EVERY DAY! Awwww yeah. And soon ensembles will start. Can't wait to play with others once again!

School starts tomorrow.











...yup.

I identify with the role of an observer. Often I feel that I don't readily jump into the action and instead choose to stay back and watch what happens, adding my own two cents every once in a while. Like...Nelly in Wuthering Heights.

I've been hearing stories of activity swirling all about me...blossoming love, movie marathons, ultimate tournaments, dance parties...all 2180 miles away. Soon enough, I'll have activity enough of my own. But what can I do right now but observe from my distance?

I'm a master's student...aaaaaaaaah.

Mexico City has the highest kidnapping rate in the world. Phoenix is second.

A couple notes:

1) I am in love with like 70% of the pianos at ASU. Also the practice rooms. SO MUCH BETTER THAN FSU.

2) If I hear the first measure of Ravel Daphnis one more time tonight, I am going to bust a cap. OH THE AGONY MAKE IT STOP.

3) STOP IT. DON'T DO IT. IT'S A TRAP.

I guess I'm in a caps lock mood tonight. AND WHY SHOULDN'T I BE?

4) Remember in one day everything that you learned the past four years about music theory...go.

Oh my friend, if that's the life you want, you should take it. People have done crazier things. And you already have a degree...

Sometimes I think that my whole life has been a long process of discovering that happiness is more important than success.

Ahh, I'm getting back to the flute player that I know I can be, and it feels GREAT! Flexing my flute muscles (not literally), playing all of the hardest things just for the heck of it, because I can...gotta love it.

Most people know this feeling. Being really in-shape, then losing it through inactivity, and then slowly building up your ability once again, so that it's not only where it was before, but BETTER than it was before! Give me an AWWWWW YEEEAH!! This is going to be a great flute year, I can feel it.

hello not normal
I amn so sleepy
oh! the poem ends.

Went for a bike ride at dusk today. Oh the mountains, they're really something to behold. And the ride was no sweat off my back...literally. I know I keep saying it, but I love it here.

Also, all the lights from the airport planes make the sky look like an alien invasion. They just sort of hover...it's creepy.

Chuck Norris once threw a frisbee to Mars... it was a push pass.

I got a lot of stuff done today. My roommate and I toured the city by taking the wrong bus (actually the right bus, wrong direction), so that was fun. Then we went and got lockers, got our ID cards, signed up for auditions, and applied for music library jobs. And then I practiced for three hours. Somewhere in between there I took an accidental nap and ate a ton of pizza. Life is pretty good right now.

My bedroom window faces west, just like my room at home. In the afternoon the sun shines through and warms the entire room. I love it. It's a special reminder. Things aren't so different here.

I'm all tired out! I played ultimate today---man, I am out of shape! It was really fun, everyone was there to have a good time and the level was quite high. Love it. I'm gonna fit right in here (I think).

Ultimate + flute practice=headache

You a special note on my blog!

P.S. My camera cable is MIA, so I can't post pics yet. ASAP, I promise.

It's Friday night here--more than an entire week has flown by since my last night in Florida. I finally have Internet (yay!). My apartment is furnished (and REALLY FREAKIN' SWEET), and man what a task it was. It took a full four days to purchase and build all the furniture. I'm so glad my parents were here--we were always thinking of new things that I needed and going out to buy them. I definitely would have had a very difficult time doing this on my own (not to mention that I wouldn't have had the money to buy it all). Thanks, mom and dad!

I have a week here to run amok before school starts. I'm hoping to jump into the ultimate scene, check out some good churches, and maybe meet a few people from the flute studio if possible. I've already had the chance to meet some flute people here, and I have nothing but good reports so far. I also have a lot of school-related business to take care of: diagnostic exams (yuck!), getting my ASU card, signing up for an audition, taking care of my loan paperwork...the list goes on and on.

Tempe is still really sweet. It's paradise. It's planned. It's all you could want in a city. No complaints here.

I'm excited to meet so many new people, to start a new phase of my life. I'm never afraid of new experiences, I'm not afraid of moving my life forward. What I am afraid of is the fact that in order to move forward, you have to leave something behind.

I traveled for three days by car to get from Titusville, Florida to Tempe, Arizona. I saw so many amazing landscapes on the way, saw what the settlers who traveled west for the first time (the pioneers) saw. Those pioneers, they were brave, you know? They had homes already, and they left their homes to seek out the unknown. They uprooted their families because they believed in a dream. I will have to be as brave as those pioneers, be brave when the rattlesnake bites or the scorpion stings. It'll hurt, it'll be difficult, and but I'll make it, because I'm on the right team. MANIFEST DESTINY, people...I'm meant to be here.

I'm not going to have Internet until Friday so I'm still trying to piece together what I can at these hotel computers.

Today was another big day. My apartment is really starting to look like an apartment. We built my bed, and I might sleep in it tonight. My dad built my desk, (which, by the way, we discovered is waaay to big for my room [oops]), my nightstand, my desk chair, a little filing cabinet, and my bookcase. My mom and I spent close to $400 in groceries (I know), and I got a bike, a t.v, and lots of miscellenious (grr no spellcheck) things. It's all coming together quite nicely.

Tempe is really awesome. Just wanted to throw that out there. It's hot, that's true...but it's just so COOL here! (Ha, just realized that that's a pretty funny statement).

I played flute for the first time in a week and a couple days. I didn't forget how to play, that's good, but I sure have a lot to do before school. Oh boy...

I've been so busy that I haven't had too much time to think about home, but sometimes these lonely thoughts creep into my head. I would like school and all that to start so I can meet new people. I love meeting new people...

Well, I finally made it to Tempe, and the hotel Internet doesn't work so I'm updating on my mom's iPhone. How annoying!

The trip had no mishaps and actually went quite smoothly. The American landscape is actually really amazing, from the swamps of Florida, the waters of the south (in la and all that), crossing the Mississippi, the windmills in Texas, the beautiful mountains and wide open spaces, desert, and so much more. As the song goes, the stars at night really are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas. I have a lot of stories--Spanish graffiti in a rest area bathroom, a rest area on the top of a mountain, getting checked at a border control center...

Right now though, I'm just glad to be here. I can't believe I'm 3 time zones away from my beloved Florida! I still love it here though, you'd know why if you saw it, and I know that this is where I'm supposed to be.

Tomorrow's a big day-- I sign my lease, meet my roommate for the first time, and try to do as much furniture shopping as possible. Better get some sleep, cause updating on an iPhone is just not that fun.

No time. In Texas. Fight is over. All is right in the world. 10 hours of driving left. Has been pretty good so far. Almost there...

Wellp, day 1 of the long trip is over. After about 12 hours of driving, we ended up in Louisiana and I'm posting from the hotel computer right now.

Notwithstanding the fact that my mom is inexplicably furious at me and won't communicate why, therefore leaving me unable to put myself in good standing, the day went smoothly. We managed to pack all of my stuff in the car (which is a miracle in itself), and I slept most of the day, which made it go by pretty quickly. I'm looking forward to reaching Arizona, though. I've been sitting in this insanely small pocket of space in the backseat, unable to move my legs, and they get really stiff...

Things could be worse, though. All in all it was a successful day. By the grace of God, may the next two days go just as smoothly (and a small measure of peace in the car wouldn't hurt either).

My mom is in suuuuuuuuuuuuch a bad mood right now. 31 hours of yelling, here we come. This is one of those life tests that people talk about. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I guess this is goodbye, old pal
You've been a perfect friend.
I hate to see us part, old pal
(Someday I'll buy you back)
I'll see you soon again
I hope that when I do
It won't be on a plate.

Oh Norah, you know exactly what I'm going through...

Singin, laughing, dancing
To her favorite song
A little girl with nothing wrong
Is all alone

Eyes wide open
Always hopin'
For the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
Who comes along

Fragile as a leaf in autumn
Just fallin' to the ground
Without a sound

Crooked little smile
On her face
Tells a tale of grace
That's all her own

Arizona is going to be a chance for me to be whoever I want to be. Nobody is going to know me, nobody. It's kind of scary. A fresh start, another chance, in a way.

Whether I want it to or not, my time here is ending. Time to move on to another chapter of my life. I'll find out in the end that growing up is a good thing. I always do.

Crazy crazy crazy--that's my life right now. No spare moment.

"Cheese and quackers...that's duck food!"
-Dad

Man, what a day. My recital was this afternoon. It went really well, and some of the pieces (Lookout, especially) went even better than I could have hoped for, given the amount of preparation that I've done. Nerves only played a very small part in this one--and they were gone totally by the time that the second half rolled around.

It was really great to see so many loving faces there--I've got some really great friends, I do, and some great family too.

...thank you.