Not Forgotten

No, we have not forgotten about our blog, or about posting. We just haven't had anything blog-worthy this last week. I got a couple new piano students (would love some more voice students too), Ross helped a friend change the brake pads on his car, we watched as much of the Mission Impossible movies as we could stand, and then hung out with some friends. Nothing big.

This coming week has some promising fun, though. Austin is supposed to get below freezing again this week, and we're hoping that doesn't mean another ice storm. Maybe more snow would be something to write home about! Otherwise, I've begun practicing again (after taking January off) :), and Ross has been keeping up with his classes so far. He's got a heavy work load this semester, with tons of reading and papers, but the outlook appears positive so far!

Umm, that's all I can think of for now. Boy! Do we lead an exciting life or what?!

The Secret Garden

I still have spring fever, and just reread The Secret Garden in an attempt to appease my illness! I had forgotten how good that book is, and had forgotten one of my favorite parts about it. I was just talking to some friends about my fear of auditioning earlier, and find this part to be most fitting for my life at the moment, too.

In the last chapter of the book, Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote:
“One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts--just mere thoughts--are as powerful as electric batteries--as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live…Much more surprising things can happen to any one who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time and push it out by putting in an agreeable determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place.

"Where, you tend a rose, my lad, A thistle cannot grow."

Wonderful stuff! I want to make a big sign with that last bit and put it up above my piano so I won’t forget it!

Learning

A lot has happened in the last couple days. I teach piano and voice lessons for my job these days, and Thursday I taught a voice lesson in which I think I learned more than my student. I’ve been struggling with this kid since I started teaching him, because at 18 he of course knows everything and won’t listen to me, the one with 2 degrees in voice. So Thursday he sings a song for me and I have to tell him it’s not the best choice for him and he then just spends the whole lesson arguing with me.

What did I learn? When I brought songs to a certain teacher at USC, she used to tell me that my voice wasn’t big enough for such and such song or I wasn’t ready to sing this or that song, or some such excuse. I would get so mad at her and think she was just being a bully. The more I teach though, the more I see maybe she was just really bad at communicating the same kinds of things to me that I was trying to communicate to my student. The song he sang was for a tenor, he is more of a baritone, and I can’t really help him sing notes that his vocal cords just can’t reach. Not all songs fit every voice. It really was an eye opening experience for me. I am learning every day to forgive my old teacher more and more.

Second thing to happen was a flat tire. I normally think flat tires are bad things, especially when it’s raining and it happens right before teaching a piano lesson, and when the items to change said tire aren’t in the car so people have to be called to come help while I sit and wait at the piano student’s house for an hour or so. But by sitting there, I got to talking to the mom of this student, and ended up telling her all about my little brother’s psychotic wife, who is doing every thing she possible can to destroy him.

At the end of my story, Lisa (the mom) tells me her brother went through the exact same thing and that his wife had Borderline Personality Disorder. This makes the second person, disconnected to the whole affair, who has verified something Lief just happened to stumble on to in a bookstore- his wife is sick and has this Borderline illness. It is also a testimony to me that Lief is not alone but that God knows him and what he is going through and is helping him through it. There is no such thing as a coincidence!

The Thaw

I can't stand the thaw!! Even in Colorado I hated this kind of weather. Our ice storm is finally over and everything is drippy and soggy and mushy and nasty outside. I guess it's good to be thawing, because now the city can resume its activities, and I can finally go grocery shopping- Ross and I were getting tired of Mac & Cheese! But UT cancelled classes again today- at least this time it was just the morning's classes. So Ross can go to his afternoon classes and I can clean while he's gone. It's funny, but I can never really clean when other people are around. I'd better get over that, because when we are ready to start our family it's going to get harder and harder to find time when no one is around! :)

I am super excited, though, about this blog thing! Since I created it last night, I have heard from 6 friends that otherwise would just be waiting in my address book! How fun is this!!

Reconnecting

Yesterday I talked to my friend Stacy for the first time in close to a year. It was great to hear from her, but sad at the same time because that really shows how lousy I am at keeping in touch. Then, tonight I watched a silly girl movie with my friend Callie (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). I actually really liked the movie, and relived some memories through it. Once again, though, I felt sad because I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends and such a wonderful family and I shouldn't waste that. So, when Callie also showed me her blog and how she keeps her family in California updated on her baby and her family here in Austin through Blogger, I decided I had to try it. So, I will send this blog to everyone I want to keep in touch with and will try to keep it updated religiously.

With that said, the first item to share, of course, is the breaking news of snow in Austin, Texas. Ross and I weren't as excited as we would have been normally had we not just had more than we could appreciate in Colorado a week ago. Inch-thick ice covered everything here- cars, roads, electric cables. UT and the rest of Austin cancelled everything for 2 whole days, so Ross and I played Anarchy Online (yes, we're nerds) and watched movies and tried to keep warm. (If you wanna see some pics, as Ross and I don't own a digital camera yet, go to http://www.news8austin.com and look for the photo gallery link near the botton on the right of the page- tried posting it directly but they make it hard.)

Meanwhile, I unfortunately have a case of Spring Fever. I found a great book on gardening at the used bookstore right before the storm came and haven't been able to put it down while I'm stuck inside. I will be trying Square Foot Gardening out on our patio as soon as we're thawed out. Ross goes back to class tomorrow and we cross our fingers it will be the last semester for him at UT. Everyone, wish him luck! :)

Love.........Juliann