Losing the Music?

Okay... so this post is obviously not about Austin. It's pretty hard for him to "lose the music" as a music teacher... :) This is really just going to be one of those rambling posts that probably don't make any sense. I might do an update at the bottom, so you could always scroll down and read that if you want to skip this section. :) 

A couple of weeks ago, AJ had the opportunity to have some of his students perform at a local town celebration - one of the towns in the district. He was a little short handed since they had only had two days of school to practice before hand, so I got volunteered to help out. (I didn't really have a choice... haha) So we had a quick performance in Macedonia for probably about 30 people. It was a short concert, but the students he had there did a great job. But it made me realize something - how much I miss singing.
 
This past weekend, AJ and I drove up to Minnesota. On the way, we listened to our recordings from our wedding - songs that we had song and songs from the Wartburg Choir. Again, I realized how much I've missed singing. The Wartburg Choir was much more than just singing - it was about a family, about emotion, about story-telling, about praising God... and I miss it so much. 

At home, I decided to sit down and spend some time playing the piano. Something I keep telling myself I need to start practicing again so I don't lose that talent. I tried to sing along to some songs while I played, but I've never been very good at that. AJ and I also took a big stack of song/piano books that we've brought back home with us. Although we only have a small electric piano right now, I'm going to start playing again. 

We also went to church on Sunday - luckily for us, it was a service with a little bit more music than normal and some of my favorite hymns (although I think I probably have like a hundred!). Since moving out to Council Bluffs and now Oakland, AJ and I haven't really gotten into a church routine. We found a church we really like in Council Bluffs but now that we're living in Oakland, we're probably much less likely to drive all the way to CB to go to church. There isn't a Lutheran church in Oakland, but there is a Methodist church just down the road from us that has a pretty active church choir - or so we've been told. I think they're starting to put a bug in AJ's ear about potentially taking over the choir director position there... but for now, we both want to try to get back in that habit of going to church every weekend and getting involved in the choir. 

Music has always been such a big part of my life growing up - piano lessons, violin, flute, school choir, community choirs, church choir, different honor choirs, singing at friends' weddings and even just singing around the piano with my family. Music has always played such an important part in my life. It's allowed me to connect with my family, meet some incredible people, travel the world and of course - meet the love of my life. More than all of that - it's a way that I've always praised God. It's always been my number one communicator to Him. I'm not sure why I've let it slip through my fingers. But I am determined to keep music as a big part of my life. After all, it is a lot of who I am. 

Okay, now for the updates on our life. :) August is pretty much gone and the month went by pretty quickly! For some reasons, I am grateful for that. I'm very much looking forward to getting our finances under control come the month of September. I was also glad because AJ has started school again and I'm not sure how much longer he would have lasted around the house. :)

We were able to spend a couple weekends up in Minnesota - one the second weekend of August. We drove up on Thursday night and on Friday, AJ, Megan, Dan and I all went out for lunch - kind of like a "last sibling meal" before Dan headed off to college. It was nice for us all to be home one last time (we think the next time this will happen will be Thanksgiving!) and I think my parents really appreciated it. However, it might have made it a little bit harder on them once we all left. They are now officially "empty-nesters" but I think they're dealing with it pretty well. ;-) We were also able to help with the freezing corn this year! We had to since we always steal so much of it when we go home... :) But as always, it was a lot of fun. Although... no one warned me a head of time about having to actually go pick the corn! So my allergies did not appreciate that. And it also brought back some "great" memories of my time at Pioneer... haha
We were also up in Minnesota just this past weekend. We drove up to my parents house on Friday night but left again Saturday morning to drive up to New London to see some old high school friends. We were celebrating our second baby shower of the group and will soon have to celebrate another couple more! :) It's very exciting and it was great to see all of them! We did send the men out to the bar during the actual shower part so they wouldn't get bored, but then enjoyed dinner and some games later that night. I'm so grateful that all of my high school friends and I have managed to stay as close as we have after high school. We all miss seeing each other so much and try to get together as much as possible - which can be challenging as we all live in different cities and states! But we make it work whenever we can! On Sunday we spent the day with my parents and had lunch with them and my grandparents. It was great to see them and we definitely appreciated the amazing home-cooked meal! :) On our way back home, we decided to make an impromptu stop to see Amanda and Thor - and that is always a good time. :) 

This week starts off my busy season at work and I start my traveling. I will be out of the office much more than I'll be in it for the next couple of months, but I'm very excited about going out and talking to students about UNO. AJ is also getting in the full swing of things at school with All-State auditions, preparing for his fall concert and organizing an All-School Talent Show. It's going to be a very busy fall indeed! :) 

Siblings in our school colors/shirts

Wartburg vs. NDSU :)

High School Friends

PB&J: Straw Poll

It's official (officially). The 2012 Presidential Election race has begun. This past Saturday, August 13th, the Iowa Straw Poll was held in Ames, Iowa. For many, this is viewed as the official "kick-off" of the presidential race. At the Straw Poll, Iowa Republicans take a vote on if the election were right now, who they would vote for. At the Straw Poll on Saturday, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann won with 29% of the votes. Ron Paul came in second and Tim Pawlenty came in third (who has also already dropped out of the race). Luckily (in my opinion), the Straw Poll has no actual pull in the Presidential race and those that win the Straw Poll have historically lost later on and not gained the GOP candidate position.

The fact that someone like Michele Bachmann could have so much support is actually scary to me. I'm not so much frightened by her far right-wing ideas and positions as I am to her (and the Tea Party's) inability and unwillingness to compromise. This is not what is best for the country. Everyone has their own ideas and opinions on issues - that is good, that is what's great about America. But because everyone has such different ideas, we - as a nation - need to learn how to work together to find a compromise that is going to make a majority of people happy, or at least some-what happy. And this is what the Tea Party is unwilling to do! And if they continue to act like stubborn teenagers, things could go downhill very quickly - as we saw with the financial crisis in Washington or even the government shutdown in Minnesota. A successful democracy must be about compromise.

There seems to be a lot of other talk around that doesn't make much sense either. Again, going back to the financial crisis - politicians on both sides are trying to come up with answers to fix the problem. And while I still believe that some sort of compromise is going to be our best bet, I am amazed at some of the suggestions being thrown out there. I like to watch a show call The Daily Show on Comedy Central with Jon Stewart. I actually like watching this as a (one of many) source of news. My reason for this is because Stewart tells how it is - from all sides. One of his recent clips was about some of the solutions to help with our nation's debt. I was just astounded by some of the things I heard. The description basically said this: "The government could raise $700 billion by either taking half of everything earned by the bottom 50% or by raising the marginal tax rate on the top two percent." I mean, why should we ask the top two percent to give more when we can ask everyone else - who might be just barely getting by - to cut back and give more of what they don't have. I just don't understand the logic.

I sometimes wonder if I should stop paying attention to politics and what goes on in Washington. The things I hear just end up making me upset and if I stopped paying attention, I could be blissfully ignorant! Ah... wouldn't that be nice? haha

Pictures of our new place!

Okay, here they are! The pictures I know you've all been waiting for! :)

Living Room

Living Room & Kitchen Island

Built-in Entertainment Center (ignore the board under the TV...)

Built-in Book Shelf & Window Seat (with additional storage)

Living Room towards Kitchen

Dining Room

Bedroom

Bedroom  (door goes to bathroom)

Bathroom

Washer & Dryer (in bathroom)

Kitchen looking towards Living Room

Kitchen with all custom cabinets

Our "Little Italy" Center :)

Our Deck

 Well, there you have it - our new place! We would love to have you all come visit anytime! :)

A year ago...

It's hard to believe but it's been a year since we first moved to Western Iowa. Last year this time we had just become Council Bluffs residents. I remember how different and foreign everything seemed back then! Now this place is very much a part of us.
This past weekend we made yet another move. We swear this is going to be the last for a while! :) And we've made our home Oakland, Iowa. We're really looking forward to all the benefits of living in a small town and living in the school district! Plus, we love our new apartment! A big thanks to all the help we had and made the move quickly and smoothly! I must say, it's much easier carrying things down three flights of stairs, rather than up! And we have everything in our new apartment and a majority of things unpacked already! Again, we are so grateful for all of our family that came and helped us!

I know that this is the last thing you're suppose to do, but I'm wishing away August. And I'm sure most people will think I'm crazy and believe that's the last thing they'd want to do - wish away the last month of summer before a crazy and busy fall/school year starts again?! Yes... And as much as I'm looking forward to this new school year (for both AJ and myself) that's not the reason I'm wishing for September. I love summer and I am sad to see it leave. But AJ and I are paying dual rent this month - necessary in order to get our lovely new apartment and while we have the money to do that, we don't have money to do anything else. haha We're both so looking forward to the month of September and getting back on track with our finances. Being able to pay a lower rent and with both of us seeing a little bit of a pay increase at our jobs, we're looking forward to being able to start putting away some money into our savings account again! And we're going to especially need to start saving if my family is planning a "last" family vacation next summer to Harry Potter World! :)

But other than those reasons, I am sad to see summer come to an end. It's been a great summer for both AJ and I and I think we've been fortunate enough to be able to see quite a bit of our families as well, which is something we always look forward to. This fall will be a new experience for both of us though! AJ will be in his second year of teaching and is excited to go back with a year under his belt. I know he's already got some big plans in place and is excited with the growth of his high school choir. This fall is also really going to teach me about the aspects of my job because it is our busiest recruiting season. I will be on the road a lot to high school visits and college fairs. While I'm use to traveling for my job, I think this is going to be more than what I've done in the past. But I truly am excited for it and ready to start talking to high schoolers about UNO!

AJ is heading to Waverly this weekend to go back to Wartburg for a few days and he's taking some Riverside students with him! They're heading there on Saturday for a three day All-State Music Camp! I know AJ is so excited to bring them back to Wartburg and to also see some of his fellow music teachers/friends. I'll be eager to hear what the students thought about Wartburg as well! :) So I'm going to spend the weekend enjoying the new apartment to myself, finishing unpacking some boxes and getting things in place. I'll get some pictures taken and posted soon so you can all see our new digs! :)