Actually, this will be a semi-timeline? Who knows what will happen.
- In January (the 8th-10th, to be specific), I had All-State Jazz! To say it was an AMAZING experience would be quite the understatement. The clinician--Kerry Marsh (who I already had kind of heard of because his arrangements are terrific) was so fun and exciting, and the songs we sang were awesome beyond belief (they were much more fun to sing after I passed the memory checks, lol...). And the people were quite delightful! If any of you who were in it read this blog, go you guys! I will not forget that weekend. And yay Jenny for doing a great job in All-State Show! And crap, I still need to somehow get the CD...I want it badly! :)
- Um...I'm probably skipping something important/fun, but at the end of January I went up to awesomely amazing Utah to audition for the School of Music at BYU. Leading up to the trip was kind of stressful...I had to work out a HUGE error that almost kept me from auditioning. But it all worked out, because as one of our Regionals songs said (more on that below), "the Lord God is awesome!" I had a great experience auditioning...my aural skills test score was surprisingly good, and even though I forgot the words at the start of one of my songs in the singing audition, it worked out great and I sang my heart out! And BYU is stinking beautiful, I can't wait to go there! That said...I did not get accepted to the School of Music. The Lord must be giving me time to grow...but that's OK, because in case you were not aware, I GOT ACCEPTED TO BYU!!!!! (The main school, not the music school.) I am so excited and I can't wait! But holy cow, I will be going to college... Oh, and by the way, I would like to thank my cousin Mollie (and her husband Ben) again for a great time staying with them when I went up to Provo. We got to play XBox and everything! Yep, they're great! :D
- Oh, before that, like Friday (the 31st), literally hours before I got on the plane to Provo, I auditioned for Regionals. That went pretty well...seeing as I got 1st chair Bass! I was really shocked and surprised, but totally excited! Regionals was a terrific experience--the clinician, Dr. Durocher from the Land of the Artichokes (Scottsdale Community College, lol) was beyond amazing. She was fun, inspiring, talented, delightful...it was my favorite Regionals (well, tied with 9th grade...except then I was really shy, and this time I talked to people a lot and everything) and I loved every minute of it. (And I got to go shop for the director's gift with the other 1st chairs, which was uber fun. And really weird because I never have done that before. They were all really nice and delightful people--go Joy, Kyle, and Lizzie!)
- We (meaning Chamber) didn't get to go to Jazz/Mad...the district was dorky (they thought it would be unsafe to go in the snow...which there was not that much of) and even when other, more sensible people in the district tried to get buses for us at the last minute, they were all booked for the All-Star Game (which I actually watched part of on Saturday, the fun shooting and dunking competitions--ironic). Oh well...I had a great weekend anyway (I was actually free to do stuff...which is a rarity lately), and we MIGHT get to go on another trip to make up for it. Coolness! :D
- Well, I hope I didn't forget anything...though I'm sure I did. Oh wait, other random things: I gave a talk, which went surprisingly well. I feel much better about my public-speaking skills (at least my church-y ones), and I actually bore my testimony for the first time in a while today in church. Yay for Brandon actually not sounding like an awkward monkey when he speaks in public! :D
- I sang a solo at the Choir Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser on Thursday! The sound was funky (and not in the cool, jazzy way), but it went well and I loved it! (The song I sang, "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles, is amazing and so fun to sing.) And great job to everyone who sang/played/etc...like for example, the amazing person who accompanied me, Rachel Ellsworth! She is a piano prodigy, basically. So yeah, everyone did great, and it went well, and it was a nice night. Yummy spaghetti! :)
- I went to a journalism workshop at ASU (for the third, and last year...tear? well, not that sad, but still...). I didn't win anything this year (the past two years, I got 2nd, then 1st place--which meant I got an iPod Shuffle...which my mom's friend has now because i got a huge real iPod...and a camera!), but it was OK, I had a great time (Catherine Anaya was there again! And the lady from Telemundo, Patricia Batres! I semi-met her last year. They're like Arizona journalism celebrities, lol... :D), and someone won from Mesa High, who I had never met before but is really nice and down-to-earth. Go Rosemarie!
- Again, I hope I didn't forget anything. Coming up for me...All-State auditions (stressful but exciting!), auditions for the School of Music at NAU (why am I doing this???? I'm planning to go to BYU, but oh well, it will be a good experience, I guess), and other sundry frivolities that have escaped my mind. (Yep, I totally just sounded like an uptight, free-spirited British person. That would be such a fun person to be, I just thought! Lol...)
