The Art of Unstress

As much as you'd like to deny it, unstress is a very real thing. It's probably the best feeling in the world. When you are stressed out, pretty much to the maximum, then you are relieved of said stress. Perhaps because you have finished that huge project, or the burden of learning/doing something has been taken off of you.
This happened to me yesterday, and I feel absolutely amazing.
School has been...school. And school is usually kind of stressful all the time. The thing that was stressing me out the most was accompanying. For those of you lack of followers that don't know what accompanying means, it's when I play piano for her while she sings.
And I seriously suck at it.
I have been to the point of crying because I did not want to do it at all.
But, I can't just stay in denial of this kind of stuff. So I picked up the pieces she gave me to learn, and learned them.
Well, I learned 2 of the 4 she gave me.
So I was half responsible. (So I was still in denial, whatever..)
So then the time came for me to play for her in our first practice together and play together for her teacher for the first time.
And I only knew 2 of the 4 pieces.
(this is a big deal)
I wasn't really sure of what I was going to do; I would probably just end up dropping the right hand altogether and playing the left hand. Because that's how awesome I am.
So we met, and she informed me of the greatest news that I had heard in (what felt like) a really long time.
She told me that her teacher had decided to only do 2 of the 4 songs instead of all 4.
And they just happened to be the 2 songs that I had decided to learn.
All the sudden, all my prayers about this had been answered, and all of this stress about learning the songs was just lifted off me.
I have never felt so awesome before.
Now, that's not to say that I'm not stressed at all, I definitely am about other stuff, but this was the biggest  thing stressing me for the past few weeks.
Life is so awesome, sometimes. My own painting of life isn't really turning out how I expected it to be, but it's great. That's kind of the way all paintings are. You start with a picture in your head, but sometimes it just isn't what you imagined it to be, but it's even more awesome.
Yeah.
So enjoy all of life. Enjoy the love, the hate, the jealousy, the awe, and the best friendships you'll ever have. Because life is your own painting, and will be whatever you make it out to be.

The Art of Contentment

Life, right now, is awesome.
I'm going to take advantage of that fact, and write about it.
Literally, everything seems to be going well.
Piano - improving a lot more than I expected this fast.
Friendships - incredible people that I already love dearly, and old friendships renewed.
School - grades are actually doing good. Not failing. Clearly a sign of awesomeness.
Idk, my life is just going awesome right now.
School is amazing. The people here make it amazing.
Studying music is amazing. I love studying my favorite thing in the world. If I could take a dance class and an art class, then it would definitely be complete. Hopefully both are in the future.
I know that my life will not always seem as good as it does now, so I am recognizing that right now, my life is awesome.
I love college.
God gives us times in life where we just feel awesome. Like how I feel now.
There are also times where our lives just suck.
God has given me an awesome experience in college and this point in my life. I love it here and I love my friends.
Because life is an art. There are good times and bad times in life, and they all make up the painting of our individual lives. If all times were good times, we would never appreciate them. The bad times make up the accidentals of our song of life, and the black and white colors of our painting that is life itself.
Take advantage of the good times in life, because before you know it, the good times are gone.
Tomorrow is a new day! We'll see what it teaches me!

The Art of Companionship

I know this is pretty much the same as friendship, but whatever, get over it. I have more than one friend.
I have found some of the best friends here at Valpo.
I love all of them a lot, and despite only having knowing them for a month, we can already be ourselves around each other, and talk about personal stuff with each other.
I don't know what I would do without my friends here.
Everyone needs someone there for them. Without any social life, we would probably go crazy.
But also, I'm probably going crazy hanging out with these people.
...in a good way.
The people I've met here are going to impact the rest of my life. The ones I know now, and the ones that I have yet to meet.
This is real. My new friends are just as real as my old ones. (which i miss dearly.)
God brought me to this school, and He brought me the friends that I would love.
College is everything I expected it to be. I love it here.
This is a short post, I know, but I just wanted to say something about my newfound friendships.
I love all you guys. You're amazing.

The Art of Mirth

I have not had this much fun in a really long time.
This weekend was probably one of the best I will have for a while.
It started off with a train trip back to Bloomington to pick up the car, and have a dinner out with Mom, Dad, and Kendra.
I needed to see them so bad.
I love it here in Valpo, it's my home away from home. But I miss home and everyone there terribly. Seeing them was something that I really needed, and totally brought happiness back to me.
We went out to dinner, and it was really nice. Me and Kendra exchanged school teacher-stories, and stories about life in general since the 3-weeks that I had been gone. It was awesome. She's my closest friend as well as my sister, and is needed in my life.
She brought about mirth in my life.
I really wanted to see my parents, too. I wasn't sure how much I was going to be talking to them while I was here, but sometimes I just call my mom just because I want to talk to her. Just cuz I miss her and Dad.
So that was also awesome. [and mirth-...ful...?]
Then tonight was absolutely incredible!
I love road trips with people I love. Me, Daniel Segner, and Chris Hartman drove to Indy and saw My Chemical Romance and Blink 182 live.
And it. was. UHmazing.
They were so good! We screamed, and danced, and yelled, and sang along, and took a bunch of pictures, and saw their tour bus........it was just awesome!
They were great live. Their music is amazing, they had a laser show, their drummer was drumming on a ledge that tipped him sideways.. everything was just fantastic.
I can't come up with enough positive adjectives to describe the concert.
We danced up in section G, surrounded by adults who loved the band, but were "too old" to dance, and didn't care. And laughed the whole time.
The whole trip and weekend was just a fabulous time.
Laughing was something that happened a lot this weekend.
That's what mirth is all about, right? It's being happy, especially when you're laughing.
And I definitely laughed this weekend. It was a great time, and something I will never ever ever ever forget.
Best time of my life.
[this totally beat out the 'we the kings' concert]
Next concert, we'll be in the front row, and he'll give his guitar to us instead of those other people.
Life is meant to be enjoyed. This involves going to concerts, and listening to the music you love.
Because life is an art. Art is meant to be enjoyed and remembered.
This is something that won't be forgotten.
We paint everyday differently, and everyday is meant to be lived a little differently.
Laughing should be a part of everyday life, though! Mirth is something that should be around...a lot.
Enjoy life! Paint a great picture that you can look at, and always know that it turned out great!
So who knows what tomorrow will be like?
Let's live it out, and see what it looks like when the time comes.

The Art of Enjoyment

Valparaiso, Indiana is definitely a place where I am enjoying myself. I have already made some great friends, and had awesome times with them already. :)
Life here is good. I love my classes and the teachers are great, too.
My room could probably use a cleaning today, though.
One of my favorite things about being here is the fact that I get to focus completely on music. I have 2 non-musical classes, and they're great classes, but I am excited to just study music. Musicianship, Music Theory, Piano Lessons, Piano Colloquium, Jazz Band, and Kantorei (choir). It's seriously going to be an amazing year.
One thing that I noticed is what I talked about with Heather. She said it's going to be easier to practice here because everyone around me will be practicing.
That is so true.
Everyone is already practicing. Freshman are already practicing. Non-music majors are already practicing. It makes me want to play, and I have gotten opportunities to since I've been here.
I have gotten involved with 2 different ensembles, (jazz band and choir), and they are both already a TON of fun. :)
AND (since this is the reason I actually started the blog) I got to workout yesterday, and we're going again today! So maybe I'll actually lose something this year instead of gaining the freshman 15.
Enjoying yourself is an important part of life. If you don't ever enjoy yourself, and you just feel sorry for yourself, then what kind of life are you living?
Life is meant to be enjoyed! It's meant to have fun! Laugh a little, cry a little, yell a little, whisper a little, and enjoy every second of it! Because life is going to pass us by, and before we know it, we're gonna regret not being happier throughout life.
We'll look back on the stupid things we got mad at, and wonder why we didn't just enjoy ourselves instead of being mad at nothing for a week. That was a week that we missed out on enjoying life.
SO paint your life the way you want to paint it, but enjoy it! Life is an art, and is meant to be fun! God gave us emotions, and yes, sometimes life will be hard. But don't let it get you down forever!
Even though we can't be happy all the time in this hard life, we can still enjoy whatever in our life is going right. There's always something going right in life.
You still have a house, you still can eat, you're still alive.
Live, laugh, try new things, pray. Everyday.
Because tomorrow's always a new day!
Enjoy it.
And we'll let tomorrow teach me whatever it wants to.

The Art of Responsibility

Responsibility is something learned.
I'm on my own now, braving the cold, harsh world.
and homework.
Classes started today. But even before classes started, there were things that I needed to be responsible for.
A major thing was signing up for choir auditions. The only downside to this was (besides my laziness) the fact that I signed up, then auditioned the next day. They told us when auditions were a while ago, but it hit me then. I was going to audition the next day. But, I had to be responsible. I signed up, auditioned, and got call-backs for the VU Kantorei. :) This is a good thing. So I did the responsible thing, and signed up for a time to audition again tomorrow.
I had to be responsible today for my classes. I had to get up early enough on my own to shower, get ready, and get to CORE class by 10:10. I had to know where the room was, and find it. Then I had to eat fast, and head to German class. I had to know where the building was, but I got lost and had to ask someone.....
[it's literally a 15-minute walk to my german class from my dorm. UH-nnoying.]
And of course, I had to do my homework. I had to write an informal paper, and answer questions in german that I had no idea what they were saying. BUT! That's okay! :) Today and this weekend was awesome, and I am loving every single minute of college.
But I have to say, to my lack of followers reading this, I miss all of you. I think of everyone back home all the time. I love you all :)
So far, I'm having the time of my life. I've made awesome friends, got to play piano with people I didn't know, leaned to say things in German, and walked for miles so far, and there's much more to come.
This part of my painting of life is going really well.
Because, life is a painting. I am painting this part of my life in the way I think is best for me. My friends and family will always be in the painting, but there are new friends that are added. And I love that.
Every day is a new day, and tomorrow's portion of the painting will be something totally different.
Life is good.
Tomorrow, I learn the art of enjoyment.

The Art of Change

Change is everywhere in my life right now.
Change of friends, change of relationships, change of state, change of school, change of life.
Change started with work. I took the job at Jillian's thinking that it would just be a job to get me some cash for college. But it turned out totally different than I had planned. I made real friends that I didn't know I would actually miss. I want to go back to see them, which is completely different from my last job. I'm so glad I have something like that to come back to.
Obviously, the biggest change in my life is my moving to Indiana to attend Valparaiso University. That changed my whole life. My friendships, my home, my attitude, everything. It's all different now.
For starters, I moved to Indiana. I've never ever moved in my life, so this is a huge thing for me. I actually live somewhere else. That in itself is kind of a big deal to me.
Also, it changed my relationships. I have a roommate, who is awesome. [:)] I have a whole new set of friends. I won't see my high school friends for a really long time. And I'm just now realizing that. All the people that I grew up with won't be there anymore. That's weird to wrap my head around. [I'll miss you guys a lot. :( ]
Everything in my life is changing right now, and it's weird, but totally awesome. I don't understand everything about it right now, but it will definitely be a good change. I'm super excited about everything.
Classes start Tuesday. :o
[this is the blog post with the most faces i've typed i think]
Pray that I practice piano a whole lot.
Life is awesome right now, because life is an art. We paint each day however we want, and the end result of our painting of life.
And so, tomorrow is a new day of more changes. And I freaking can't wait.
Tomorrow, I learn the art of responsibility.