All Fest Audition

Sunday was the audition date for All-Festival, a district honors choir that's a pre-event for KMEA All-State. Twenty-nine students would audition with the first page of Io Mi Son Giovinetta. I was ready for this audition, knew my part like the back of my hand, and then three days before the audition I get sick and test positive for the flu. So of course me and my director both panicked, it was quite an experience.
So on Sunday I did everything I could to revive myself enough to audition and squeeze by.
Got my score back that night and got a 79 out of 80 points possible! I was shocked! I couldn't breathe out of my nose at all and was very weak during the audition, so it was no surprise to me that the one point was because of phrasing, I know I breathed in the wrong place a couple times. But still I was ecstatic to have made that high of a score despite my illness! I give God 100% of the glory because He gave me the strength to pull through even though I didn't feel like it at all.

No Guys, Just God.

A couple of nights ago I was thumbing through a book called "Live God Loud" when a certain chapter caught my attention. The chapter talked about sacrificing dating. It told about a girl who had chosen her relationship with God over a relationship with a boy. I read on and the author made a suggestion- that if you were really serious about God and wanted to build a stronger relationship with Him, you should focus on that one relationship for a while before you take on another with a boy. I thought this was a great idea. It was the middle of July at camp when I got on a serious note with Jesus. So from that date, I'm gonna wait a year before I even consider dating someone. This is my experiment with Christ. I'm not saying it's wrong to date, not at all. I'm just saying this seems like a good plan to me. I've prayed about it, and I think it pleases God, so I'm gonna work on getting closer to Him before I think about getting close to a guy. Sounds like a plan to me. :)

The Wonderful Musical Ed

I know that I have anything to blog about, but I'm going to anyway just because it somehow makes me feel better. Blogging is alot like talking to yourself, especially if no one follows your blog. Regardless, it's a very constructive activity, I think.
I was thinking today that I have the most amazing people in my life. I have some great family members, a great church family, great friends, great choir family, and the world's greatest music teachers. I'll take a second to tell you about them.
The world's best choir director, Felts, teaches you all about arpeggios and life in general. He is constantly reminding us that "there is a time and a place for everything" and that if we unite our hearts, minds, and talents, we can do anything. He's very passionate, can you tell?
My piano teacher, Earlene, plays the piano better than Mozart and patiently (I have no idea how she manages this) teaches me every week. She reminds me on facebook many weeks that I have a piano lesson or else I will forget... lol.
My voice teacher, Dr. Wolf, is the sweetest lady on the planet and is a genius in both teaching and performing. She can speak foreign language better than the people in their own country can.
If it weren't for these three music educators, I wouldn't be half the musician I am. I owe a very large portion of my skills and musicianship I have to their dedication and love. The thing I love about each of these individuals is that they have confidence in their abilities, but are so down to earth. They aren't stuck up at all and I can laugh with them or talk to them about anything in the world and they'll give me some of the best advice anyone could ask for. They are some of my closest friends.
But yeah, I just thought I'd dedicate this post to them. :)

Psalms 69

Lately I've felt like a zombie. I have no energy, I've been broken inside over something someone said that really tore me apart. My physical condition hasn't been much better. I'm always tired, I don't feel like myself, I hurt all over, I have weird breakouts and unneccesary fevers, and all of that has taken a toll on my emotional state as well. I came to the point tonight when I realized the condition I was in. I felt like no one could understand the extent of what I was feeling. I've been in so much physical and emotional pain lately and to be honest it's put me in a depressive state. So when all my tears were cried and I'd done all I could do, I went and laid down on my bed. I told God I needed help- badly. Man did he listen. I sat down and wrote Him a letter in which I told him all of my feelings that I've bottled up. I told him how tired I was and how sick I was of feeling hurt and in pain. I told Him I felt like no one understood or even cared and then in the middle of that letter He gave me some serious encouragement. It was like He embraced me and showed me all of the blessings that He's placed in my life. All of the good things. Sometimes we get so focused on the bad in our lives, all of the stuggles we face, how much it hurts to go on and we don't even take time to thank God for the strength and the help He sends us. God showed me the faces of each one of my friends, my family, my church family, my choir, my talents, all of the things that bring me joy and keep me living and happy. I apologized to God for being so selfish and overlooking all that. He didn't stop there. He directed me to read my Bible, particularly Psalms 69. You can read the whole chapter here, but basically David is telling the Lord how distressed he is, how he has cried and no one can comfort or understand his pain. He is basically feeling exactly what I am, and this chapter shocked me because it matched my situation so well. It truly took the words out of my mouth. It encouraged me to know that God cares, to know that He hears every whimper, and feels my pain. He knows even when I don't say anything that I am hurting and He doesn't tire of my pleas for help. He is my lifeboat and my shelter in this storm and I know He'll bring me through this difficult time. I believe He will make things right, change my loved ones, and ultimately heal whatever's wrong with me for HIS glory. That is something I have faith in.

I Found This

to be very interesting. Maybe it's coincidental, but you can't help but wonder... The devil is the master of deceit. Watch the video.

Sick as a Dog?

I've heard people say they were "sick as a dog." I'm not for sure what that's supposed to mean, or how that saying came about, but I think that could describe my condition right now.
Sunday morning in Charles' class I noticed a tickle in my throat, and from there it's gone downhill. Yesterday I went to school but I had a fever and was aching all over and all that jazz that comes with the flu. Today it was just terrible, so I didn't even attempt going to school.
So here's how my morning began: It was at the beginning of what my first block would be if I had gone to school this morning, that my phone starts ringing. Obviously, I was awakened from my peaceful slumber... I had two texts and my sister Hollie was calling me, so I had to get up.
I grumbled a hello and Hollie informs me that my choir director had called their phone this morning wanting to know why I wasn't at school and where I was. He didn't say so, but I think the reason he was so concerned might have been that today we were working on the italian Allstate audition piece. I'm the only one that really knows how to pronounce the italian words... Lol... Nah I'm just kidding. He might've really cared. Haha.
But I guess I'll end up going tomorrow, H1N1 or no H1N1, we have after-school practice to work on the italian piece and plus I don't like staying home. :(