The Artist in Me...

I am currently listening to some 30 Seconds to Mars lyrics while I type this up. Tomorrow is May 1st. A quarter of the way through the year and so much has happened. Yesterday, at the colorguard meeting for my students, I realized how important this is to my students. I have an idea for winter season show for the next 3-5 years and they are so dedicated and determined to raise to the challenge. I will give a longer story/blog of there future winter shows later, but for now all I am going to say is I think the 15 potentially committed members are going to know doubles on rifle and will hopefully have a class promotion! A nice five and a half minute show that will push them further than they have ever been pushed is what they need to go to the next step!!!

I am on such a creative high. ever since I left Utah this morning, I have been snapping pictures left and right of the Utah post-storm clouds and snowy mountains, my view of Portland while landing (from the plane), views from my parents house of all the cherry blossoms and the gorgeous trees, all pictures that I have for an idea involving one (or more) creative projects! I even snapped a picture of the Dr. Seuss book we have in our home due to the amazing memories I have involving that book! Plus, I have another creative idea involving "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins." Oh man do I have many art projects in mind.

I am going to quickly wrap up this blog (for now) but I plan to be back again soon!

Thirty Seconds to Mars - "Alibi" Lyrics

As many of you may know, I am a huge 30 Seconds to Mars fan. In fact, the video above is a song on their recent album "This Is War" titled "Alibi." This is a softer song they sing and one of my favorites! This is not the offical music video (they don't have one for this song), just the lyrics but it is gorgeous nonetheless! Now before I continue on with this post I am going to explain a few things regarding this band and it's fan base:

• 30 Seconds to Mars is a rock band with a touch of punk and screamo (just a touch!)
• They have a fan base that they fondly call the Echelon. Yes, this is a cult.
• The lead singer, Jared Leto, and his brother and the bands drummer Shannon Leto, were raised in a hippie commune where there was no limit to creativity.
• As an example of the noted bullet above, they recently released a censored and uncensored music video of their single Hurricane. For people who want to know, I watched the censored one and found that, even censored, it is still very much a sexual music video.
  
• Although the band does include sex in music videos and swearing in their lyrics, I actually find a lot of their music inspiring.
• They have released three albums. In the recent album titled "This Is War" (also the name of a single on the album) they turned the microphones to the Echelon (the fans) and you hear a lot of fan voices on the album (I Jared said they had about 100,000 people from nine different countires on the album).
• There most recently famous single off the recent album is "Kings and Queens."
• According to facebook, they have over 1,000,000 fans (and counting).
• Jared is a bit crazy and is known to jump past security and into the crowds at music festivals and major concerts. He will crowd surf among the fans just to say "hi."
• All three band members are over 30 years of age, but you would not think it when you look at pictures or music videos.

Alright, now onto the reason for this post. After the release of the controversial music video Hurricane, the band held a live forum and Q&A session with fans to explain the concept and reasoning behind the video. He noted that he did have one (or maybe several) reason(s) as to why he choose the topic he did for the video. He then noted, however, that it wasn't initially about sex, but about being creative with who you are. This inspired me (not the sex part...no). It got me thinking in a way I didn't think before. Later in the live forum, Jared talks about art and what inspires people can turn into something different and to never be afraid of the inspiration that comes to you. Now, I am not going to make a music video about sex, but it did inspire me to sit down and write out somethings I have been wanting to do (in a creative sense). For instance, I have an idea about a movement (dance) piece in involving paint and multi-layered, textured backdrops. I already have a name for it and know it would probably turn into a two (maybe three) part piece! I also have an idea for my students this winter that may push them further in their dance and colorguard training than that have ever been pushed before!


I will post a picture of this list later (it is rather long). Rest assured, there are no plans of sex in my inspirations either!


Now, time for bed before my super crazy, pre-finals week.

I Don't Get It...

I know this entire post is going to sound extremely childish, but right now I am in one of those moods. I sit here in the library after my test to take care of a few things (finishing another paper, getting some studying tools to study for finals, email out some colorguard stuff) and had to get onto facebook to find a message that was sent to me since this is a very important message. I was going into my messages so that I could copy and paste it to the email I was sending out to my students. I kept trying to look for it and couldn't find it. So I decide to ask the person via facebook message for the message they sent me. I searched for their name and it showed as them not being my friend anymore (this is the second person too). I don't get it. Did I do something wrong? I sorta want to ask them if I did but then I would be acting childish for doing so. I just want to know what I did to make these people angry with me. I am the kind of person that tries to fix things. I really want to know, but I don't want it to turn into a "I am not your friend on facebook so I am assuming I did something wrong" type of ordeal. If these people actually read my blog, I want them to know this...I care about you. I care about all my friends. If I did something wrong in your eyes I am sorry.

When I all this happened something in my gut told me it is because of a blog I posted a while ago about serving God and losing friends because of it. I just want everyone to know that there is one thing that I am 100% positive about. Everything else is something I am still searching (on my own time) and I believe life is a playground of discovery. If nothing else works this is the one thing that gets me by everyday and helps me to wake up in the mornings on days that are for sure going to be bad...that there is a God in heaven who is my Heavenly Father and He loves me, wants me to succeed, has a son named Jesus Christ who is also my Brother and completely head-over-heals for me, His little sister, would do anything for me (because He already has done everything and more for me), and that they have restored the true church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Yes, that is ONE HUGE thing I am absolutely sure about. Now, I love to learn and explore. When I tell people I am a little more on the liberal side of politics, I get the traditional "well, the church is republican." Then that means President Faust was not the right person to be a General Authority. WRONG. I am allowed to be liberal or conservative or independent or whatever I decide to be. What I believe outside of the statement I just made is up to me. If I decided to never be a part of this church for the rest of my life, that is my decision, but I know this one statement is true. If any of my homosexual friends invited me to their wedding, yes, I would go. Whether or not I supported the action is my decision but I will support them nonetheless, because I love them, just like Jesus loves me unconditionally, faults and all.

Many do not know that my political stand varies depending on many things. This does sound strange but I have my religious political views and my "other" political views. Most of the time, I am voicing my "other" views, because quite honestly, I truly believe many of those more than my religious political views. For example, even though religiously, I don't thing gay marriage is conducive with God's plan, I do have that HUGE part of me that says, "as long as everyone who is married follows all the same rules and laws (including taxes and such) I have no problem with gay marriage." Yes, I know I will get several readers who will think I am a very "wishy-washy" mormon. Maybe I am, maybe I am not. It doesn't change my statement. Literally, the one thing that comes me going is knowing that God wants me to get up, do my best, be happy, and endure. That can mean something to different people. I feel that right now (and most likely forever) the only thing in my life that is stable (1,000,000,000% stable) is the statement I just made. There are many be things in the church that I like, there may be things I don't like but I am very sure about this. That is why I still don't get it and probably never will.

So, take me for who I am. This 23 year old woman still in school; still not sure if she picked the correct major; who loves to dance, teach, make music, read and write; is politically independent but leaning towards the more Democratic Party; is naturally curious and quite often weird; and is going through life still trying to figure many things out.

Yeah, I know. A strange post about some weird topics that probably don't make sense. Either take me for who I am or get out of my way. As Mia Michaels recently stated "anyone around you who tells you you can't, you need to discard them and move them out of the way...just go."

Well, Mia, here I go!

School and school

I sit here blogging so I can take a break from two important school items. However, one is for me at UVU and one is for Springville (I am multi-tasking a lot of the Springville stuff). I will first start with explaining what I am doing.

I will start with Springville. I think I have some audition dates for the summer/fall colorguard but I need to check on gym times and my school schedule during potential dates as they may be during finals week. All my finals will be in the morning though so I plan to have auditions in the evening with a parent meeting the day after! I think rifle auditions will be the Friday before so that Lindsay can help me decide on the rifle and potential sabre line for fall! I have been sitting here at my sister's house enjoying family time while working. I have spent time organizing the current potential members list, deciding on captains and equipment manager, updating the April and May calendars, checking prices on new sabres and rifles, submitting fundraiser proposals and writing work for parade! I am spending my two week break from teaching updating my director's notebook and getting everything ready for summer and fall colorguard. I am hoping and praying for at least 12 people for the fall show. Lindsay, Jamie (the band teacher), and I want at least four sabres on the sabre line, four rifles on the rifle line and four flags on the flag line for fall. That would be awesome! Now, we have to check pricing for the sabres. I am super excited for the fall show especially since the drill coach is offering to give us a ton of stuff FOR FREE!!! I am hoping for smooth sailing for fall and spending all summer building up technique. I am sure my kids are not happy with the 6am-9am Tuesay Thursday rehearsals but there is a reason to which I will explain later!

Now, on to college. I have been able to view my classes and I have a lot to think about. I am allowed to take 20 credits for the whole summer so I am thinking 10 credits for first block and 10 credits for second block!!!  That way I am not over loading one block or another will still maximizing my credits to graduate on-time or faster if possible. I get to pick fall term classes sometime this week and need to compare my summer schedule with fall to make sure I take take the next class in my course sequence. Studying is top priority so I need to finish an email and study some more.

Tears of Sorrow, Happiness and Pride

My students had rehearsal tonight. Lindsay and I know the girls are ready and just worked on a few little things here and there to get them ready for State on Saturday. Then we had their final run through before State. Lindsay lost it because it was sadly the last time she would see the show. Itried hard to be the strong one, knowing I would still have at least one more show (two if they make finals) before we start a new season with some former members, some new members and with less of Lindsay's spunk and personality (sad). So, I waited until I was in the car...and then I cried. I cried my sorrowful tears for Heather, wanting and needing her here; for Mama Susan knowing she would not have her only daughter physically here to calm her; for Lindsay for not having what I get next year; and for me and the team knowing that in a few short weeks we will be different.

But I also cried happy tears too. I mentioned to my girls how high they have set the bar for next year. They have averaged sixth place (top 6 in our division go to finals on Saturday) and achieved the highest placement and score they have ever received in the past last week. They are so close to placing (top 3 place) and could receive he needed recognition they need. They were happy today and that always makes me happy. I cried knowing next year could get much better.

I then had tears of pride. Lindsay and I brought these kids along and helped them achieve their goals. We both have had the amazing opportunity to watch them grow and develop as performers. I could list off each one of them and tell you their personality, how they think, where their motivation lies and why they do colorguard. I love all of them like my own children...al 10 of those crazy, dorky kids. They will probably be the death of me one day, but I grow to love them more and more everyday.

I think about the journey I have been on with these kids and I learn something new everyday. I learn how to handle irate parents, how to deal with teenager, when is the best time to motivate students and so on.  I am so looking forward to the upcoming 2011-2012 season.

Now, off to bed. I have a long weekend ahead of me.

It Really Is March Madness

I hear talk of March Madness in terms of basketball season, but I am going through March Madness in terms of life in general. I am writing this blog when I should be in class. Now you may be asking, "Kristen, Why are you not in class?" That is a very good question. You see for the past week, my life has consisted of nothing but school and teaching colorguard. Plus, this week, I had cleaning checks for the apartment which is basically a white glove inspection for the entire apartment. The last two nights I have stayed up nearly all night to finish homework, sew more flags, clean, and finish midterms. I finally went to bed, this morning at 4am after finishing up everything that needed to get done! In my exhausted condition I forgot to set my alarm. However, my phone was on and, after receiving a few text messages from my sister, I woke up realizing it was 7:55am. My class was starting in five minutes. It takes about 10 minutes to get to school and I was not even ready yet. Just getting my ballet stuff together and putting in my contacts would take about ten minutes. So, I decided to carefully take my time with everything and then come to school. So, here I sit in a computer lab writing important emails and updating the general public about my crazy busy life. I think I will start with school.

Midterms seem to last forever. I take my last midterm today and I am stoked to have midterms over with. But then tomorrow my second Chemistry test starts. I am so excited to have a three-day Spring Break next week to finally unwind a bit and relax. I will still be teaching as my students don't have spring break until April, but no classes, hopefully no homework, and enough time to relax a bit! In about seven to eight weeks I get to start the process of finals (exciting would be too sarcastic for everyone). I am not looking forward to finals but it is a way of life I guess. Then I get a nice week and a half long break before starting summer semester!

My job as the colorguard co-director at Springville High School is turning out to be successfully stressful. I do love it though. I love watching my kids excel! I have to sew non-stop for ALA though and that keeps me busy all the time (the sewing finally ends on Saturday). We had a mishap with the ALA flags and I decided to take them home and fix them. My Springville kids are on the cusp of complete success. Last year they were last all the time. This year they are averaging sixth place, but Lindsay and I know they can do much better than sixth place (we think they can do as well as third place)! We will see what happens on April 2nd (Circuit/State Championships).

I have two more things I want to address before I wrap up this blog. First, I am trying to decide if I want to make this blog protected. I don't mind sharing my views and opinions with other people but some people are just plain stupid when it comes to reading things on a person's blog. I have not decided to do so yet but it is an option I am pondering.

The second thing is this...while cleaning my room yesterday, I found a HUGE list of goals I want to accomplish. I am planning on posting it here. Some of it is personally. But it shows people how I think too. I have categorized the list into spiritual goals, educational goals, physical goals, etc. I plan on posting it here and even showing a picture of how long it is (one category takes up 3/4 of a page). Yeah, just some thoughts and pre-cursors to what is to come!

Until next time (hopefully soon), I hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Marching Forward

I can't believe it is already March. This semester is drawing to a close. In 23 days I can pick my classes for the summer term and in 30 days I can go ahead and pick classes for fall term. I have a rough idea of how busy my summer is going to be. So far, my students have parade rehearsals in the mornings from 6am to 9am every Tuesday and Thursday. I plan on having morning classes and possibly working part-time in the afternoon or evening hours (we'll see how that goes). But I need to add in rehearsals for my students in August, Band Council and Staff meetings, and I would love to schedule in some fun!

Thanks to the idea of the semester drawing to a close, all my teachers have decided to dump massive amounts of homework on me. I just finished writing a ballet critique paper and will have to write two more papers for my modern dance class this upcoming week. In chemistry, I finally understand everything...yes, everything, from the previous chapters now. It felt like I was going through the motions, but now everything is clicking. Papers and tests are all I seem to do these days. Plus, I recently helped pick the percussion staff for summer parade and fall marching band. Oh the joys of a growing group. I don't mind that the Springville Marching Band and Colorguard is growing, in fact, that is a good problem to have, but sitting through interviews for potential staff members can get tedious and boring. Then there is the "problem" of picking which staff more will fit with our team. Glad the interviews are over!

I feel that march is kind of a turning point for many people. It is the transition time between winter and spring (unless you live in Utah..lol) and the quarter mark of the year. For me, it is the time to thing about the rest of the year as it approaches. For my colorguard students, it is the time for me and my co-director to start looking at what next year will hold for them even though their season doesn't end until April. It the time to focus on school as finals approach and think of the coming terms and how each term will benefit me as a student. Deadlines start popping up and everything seems to happen at once. So all I can do is "March forward."