We had a really great trip... lots of good conversations on the road, a visit to the Carlsbad zoo, tasty Mexican food for lunch, and then an awe-inspiring tour of the Lower cave. It was a three hour, ranger-guided tour and it was beautiful. We got to do some climbing and some crawling through the cave. My biggest impression of the whole thing was that God has a fantastic imagination! Upon arriving back in Levelland, we went straight to "Uncle Lester" and "Uncle Slick"'s place for homemade chicken noodle soup (compliments of Amber) and a wild game of Nertz (a card game). Amber began complaining that her left foot was really cold and hurting worse than it had been. After about an hour of keeping it elevated, it was still really cold and was starting to feel tingly. By then we decided that we need to take her to the emergency room to make sure she didn't have a blood clot or something serious going on. Little did we know that we would spend the entire night in the ER!
We found out that Amber's foot still doesn't appear to be broken on the X-ray, she does not have a blood clot, her lab work is fine, and she CAN stay awake all night! They put her in a walking boot, gave her a prescription for non-drowsy pain meds, and diagnosed her with Raynaud's Syndrome. Our friend Kacy was really sweet and came with us, and stayed up all night with us. We were finally dismissed from the hospital at about 7:30 am, went to IHOP for some breakfast, and called our "Uncles" to come pick us up. We are so blessed to have some really good friends here in Levelland who watch out for us and are quick to help us out in times of need. It is an amazing thing to know you have friends you can call on in the middle of the night!
We got back to Levelland at about 8:30 Saturday morning and went to bed! We finally woke up about 3:30pm, ate some dinner, played some music and went back to bed. I'm pretty sure Friday was the longest day of my life!
This morning, our bell choir performed at church and then there was a Thanksgiving dinner there. It was a good time of fellowship, and I really love the pastor here! We had some friends over for pumpkin bread and hot apple cider this afternoon, and now we're headed out to hear some friends perform. In this season of Thanksgiving, I am particularly thankful for the many wonderful people, both here and all around the country, whom I have the priviledge of calling "friends". Our family has been through a lot this past year, but we have not been through it alone. With God holding our hands, and our friends praying for us and encouraging us day by day, we have perservered. Thank you for the blessing of your friendship!
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( 3 / 77 )Just a quick note to remind you all that our Celtic Concert is tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 7pm Central. You can watch the live stream of it HERE. If you don't catch it then, there will be an archive of it which I will post a link to when I find out what it is.
This week has been good. We're getting to crunch time where we have a million things we still want to do and only a few weeks left to accomplish them all. Life is good and we're very blessed!
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( 2.9 / 65 )It has been so long since I posted a blog here that I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll begin with an apology for not keeping this updated better. It has been sadly neglected over the past several weeks, but I am determined to get back into the habit of writing regularly. Writing is a really good outlet for me, but sometimes it's hard to make myself sit down and get started.
School is going really well overall. I cannot even describe how amazing it is to be here, playing the music I love and learning from great musicians everyday. However, we are getting to the point in the semester where my "battery" is running low. Sis and I haven't been home since we moved here in August and we haven't seen Mom & Dad since the first weekend in October. We're counting down the days until we get to come home for Thanksgiving break. I am beginning to feel drained-- physically, mentally, and emotionally. Amber & I are still committed to doing something fun and refreshing everyday, but my "battery" isn't holding its charge as well as it did at the beginning of the semester.
Speaking of fun things, I think I'll tell you about some of them, lest this note start to sound depressing. We have become really good friends with most of the bluegrass students, doing things with one or more of them almost every weekend. One weekend we hosted a cinnamon roll & apple cider party; one weekend we went to Palo Duro Canyon (the 2nd largest canyon in the USA) and a big bluegrass jam; one weekend we went home with our friend Kasey who lives in the wilderness of New Mexico; and today we drove out to a wildlife refuge, had a picnic lunch, and spent the afternoon hiking. We regularly have people over for dinner or tea or just to fellowship together. There are two older students whom we have all adopted as 'uncles'. "Uncle Slick", aka Peter, a lawyer from Vancouver, BC, Canada and "Uncle Lester", aka Kirk, a legislative researcher from Colorado have taken us under their wings, cooking for us, sharing their life experiences with us, and learning music together.
Additionally, Amber & I have had several opportunities to perform around the area. We played with a bluegrass band in Lubbock at a church; our bell choir here in Levelland had its first performance last week; and we got play for a church senior's night. We were also part of a group of bluegrass students who performed for the Levelland Chamber of Commerce recognition banquet and Amber got to play for a fundraiser luncheon for one of the Texas State Senators!. Now we have a regular gig playing music at Larry's Smokehouse-- one of the local restaraunts--every Wednesday evening.
Next week promises to be a busy one with classes, bell choir rehearsal on Monday, a bluegrass department meeting on Tuesday, playing at Larry's on Wednesday, and then our Celtic Ensemble performs Thursday evening at 7pm. If you are in the area, you should definitely come see the concert OR you can watch it on a live stream at mms://wms.southplainscollege.edu/spctvmusic.
Have a jolly good week and remember to ENJOY LIFE!
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( 3 / 64 )Go check out the pictures page for some photos of our weekend in Guthrie, OK.
1) Me and Sister... I'm wearing "bluegrass boppers"
2) Mom and Dad... enjoying some fine music
3) The Hunt Family Band... we have enjoyed jamming with them and getting to know them over the years.
4) Jamming with the big boys... Lee Gibson on guitar, Jason Thomas on fiddle
5) Claire Lynch came and sat on the floor right beside me so she could hear my dulcimer better... talk about nerve-wracking!
6) Playing "Julie's Waltz" with Mark Schatz... what an honor and a priviledge!
This last weekend was very relaxing for Amber & me. We didn't have anything we HAD to do, so we enjoyed doing a lot of things we WANTED to do. I got to read for fun, catch up with some old friends, go for long walks, and shop at a thrift-store. We went grocery shopping in Lubbock Saturday, went to church Sunday morning, and had a friend over Sunday afternoon. It was really refreshing, especially after the stress of last week.
Speaking of that, my situation with the teacher seems to be better (though she was gone today, so we'll see what tomorrow brings). Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. I continue to ask for wisdom and grace to deal with this situation in a Godly manner. I pray that Amber & I can be lights in the music department, accurately representing Christ to everyone we interact with.
This week is mid-terms here. I love this school-- I only have 2 mid-terms. One was for my piano lesson, which I passed with a 99 out of 100 today. The other is for my Performance & Promotions class where I have to turn in my completed promo package. Putting the promo packages together has been a lot of work, but I am excited about having a professional press kit ready to go. It will be a relief to have it all completed--I turn it in on Wednesday.
Ya'll have a jolly good week and drop us a note to let us know how you are doing!
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( 3 / 68 )The past week has been something of a roller coaster ride, with a great high over the weekend and a difficult low this week. Let's start with the good part!
Last weekend was the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival in Guthrie, OK. Scenic Roots once again performed in the Children's Tent-- 4 shows this year. Dad was able to be there Wednesday evening-Friday evening, but had to get back for work on Saturday. Mom spent the whole weekend with us. Amber and I carpooled with a couple friends from school, and another car-load came down later so SPC was well-represented. Our shows in the Children's tent were wonderful as usual. We had a two groups of 3rd graders, a group of 2nd graders, plus a pre-school class and some homeschooled students. Dad is so good at interacting with the kids and getting them involved in the music. Plus, we get to do fun things like wear "bluegrass boppers" all weekend!
We also got to hear some incredible music. My favorite band of the year was Claire Lynch with band members Jim Hurst, Jason Thomas, and Mark Schatz. I was especially thrilled that Mark Schatz was there because I recorded his tune "Julie's Waltz" on my "Quiet Sunshine" CD. I spoke with him after their first show; he was very friendly and down-to-earth, and even complimented me on my recording of his tune. Needless to say, I was pretty excited after that!
The story gets even better from there. An additional perk of playing in the Children's Tent is getting "Artist" passes which allow us access to the back-stage area as well as a hospitality room at the local hotel. On Saturday night, after the main show, Mom, Amber, & I went up to the hospitality room just to see what was going on. Our friends, the Hunt Family, were in there picking, so we got out our instruments and started jamming with them. Before long, other people started drifting in... Lee Gibson of the Gibson Brothers, Jason Thomas, Jim Hurst, Claire Lynch, and Mark Schatz.
We ended up getting to jam with all of them, and I even got to play "Julie's Waltz" with Mark Schatz!!! To top off an amazing evening, Mark Schatz taught me to dance a two-step... yeah, I got to dance with THE Mark Schatz!!!! I also had some great time with my family, good conversations with my friends from school, lots of great picking in the campgrounds, and constantly good music from the main stage. It was all-in-all an absolutely wonderful weekend and one I won't soon forget! I'll try to post some pictures this weekend when I have a little more time.
Now for the low.
When I got back to class on Monday morning, I ended up having a major confrontation with one of my teachers. I'm not sure what provoked the confrontation, but it really upset me. I ended up spending quite a bit of time talking through things with my advisor and the head of the music department. I am really blessed that they are both strong Christian leaders and give wise advise combined with uplifting encouragement. I am still not on very good terms with this particular teacher, and I have a lot of classes with her which has made my week a real struggle. I have spent a lot of time on my knees in prayer and getting advise from people I trust about this situation. I would covet your prayers as I try to deal with this with grace and love. There is a lot of tension right now and I really don't like being on bad terms with anyone, least of all one of my teachers. Please pray for me to have wisdom in my dealings with her and to speak the right words. My desire is that God would be glorified through my life and through this situation.
God bless each of you. Have a wonderful week!
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