Well, here's the deal. We lied...
Basically here's the skinny on our lives right now:
Ben is at BYU doing his music thing. He's studying Music Education band style (mainly bari saxophone). Right now his teacher has him playing Alto for his lessons which is different, but he's getting LOADS better! It's fun to watch and listen :) He plays alto for his lessons, bari in band, and tenor in marching band. It's a little bit crazy! He also is taking a class where he goes and observes different music teachers in the area and gets to play with one of their bands. He learned trombone for the first half of that class, and I think (and hope) that he enjoyed it. Not only did he get to play with the band, but he also got to teach some small lessons, which is great experience!
He is taking another class called String Workshop where they learn the basics of all the string instruments (not either of our favorites....). He started on Viola and just passed his exam to finish that, which we're super excited about! Now he's playing Violin. I can't wait for next semester when he gets to learn Bass and Cello. It's so fun to watch Ben get better at his music :) Ben also plays in the BYU Marching Band. He's the section leader for the tenor saxophone section. He loves every minute of it. Lately the saxophones have gone out for burgers after the games and I usually join them which is really fun for me, since I get to meet and hang out with the people he spends all his time with ;).
I'm studying Music Education choral style at UVU and also loving it. I love spending time with nerds who are as obsessed with music as I am. Right now I'm taking voice lessons and singing some super fun songs! My voice teacher has some crazy plans for me this year. She wants me to audition for an "evening of concertos" that UVU puts on in February where I would sing my crazy french song in a concert with a live orchestra. We'll see how the audition goes. She also wants me to take 3 songs to a NATS competition in March. In choir we just finished Carmina Burana with the school orchestra as well as 3 high school choirs and the Utah Ballet Company was dancing with us. It was a huge production, but it's been so fun to learn. Now that we're done with that, we're working on Handel's Messiah. We're putting on a Messiah Sing-a-long December 5th, which gives us less than a month to learn almost the whole thing. Gah! I'm really excited though.
Ok...so that part where I said this was the "skinny" on our lives right now? Really, the "skinny" is a big fat novel. I apologize. So for a brief intermission...Enjoy!
Anyways...
Ben and I didn't really have a ton of time to get ready for Halloween this year. We knew we were going to a Dr. Who themed party, but until the day of the party (the Saturday before Halloween), we hadn't thought about costumes at all. We thought of a few cool ideas to try. We went to the Army surplus store to look at gas masks to be empty children, but they didn't have anything that looked right. Plus they were expensive and smelled funny...Then we went on an adventure to find Ben a fully leather outfit so I could be a plasma-vore and he could be my leather-man protector guy. But no success there, so Ben busted out one of his mission suits and we got him a pair of sneakers and messed up his hair a little bit, and he was the 10th Doctor. We tried to spray paint his hair brown, but it didn't go so well...mostly his hair ended up a scary purple-ish color. So he washed it out and remained blonde. I still didn't have a good idea for what I could be. We thought about a couple different ideas that I didn't love, but decided on something ridiculous, epic, and awesome. I was Donna. For those of you who haven't seen Dr. Who, Donna is a Bride that gets sucked into the Tardis as she's walking down the isle at her wedding. So I pulled out my wedding dress and wore it. It still fits! Not as comfortably as it did then...but it fits! Heck yeah! For Halloween itself, I house hopped as a plasma-vore because it was easier. It was so fun to see and hear about the awesome things our friends and family dressed up as.
Almost done!
Ben and I are helping teach a 5th and 6th grade band in Eagle Mountain this year which has been so fun! He has 15 clarinets and I have 24 flutes and an oboe. It's totally insane and loads of fun. Right now they're getting ready for their first concert. I'm not sure what the clarinets or brass know, but the flutes know 5 notes :) F, Eb, D, C, and Bb. They just had their first practice with the whole band together (there are about 60 kids total) and they sound way better than I thought they would! The kids are hilarious (I'm pretty sure I was never that funny as a kid), and it's amazing how fast some of them have learned. The flutes are crazy, but they're pretty well behaved for the most part. My oboe player reminds me so much of myself that I have to laugh almost every time I talk to her. She even looks a little like me. The difference is that she practices. Anyways, we're really excited for their concert, and we're so proud of them! It's been a great learning experience. And I have a ton more to learn before I become a teacher.
Just a few things that are coming up. (If I don't say them now, they won't get put up here till next year).
Ben and I are celebrating our first anniversary this month (on the 26th)! To celebrate it, we're spending Thanksgiving weekend with my sister and her family in Idaho, and then we're going to see THE MUPPET MOVIE! :) Can you tell I'm excited! Bahaha. We may also rock some Black Friday shopping. Who knows. We're also spending Christmas with Ben's family. I'm really excited to learn some of their traditions. Since my whole family is getting together this year for Christmas, we're flying to Oregon Christmas night to frolic with them and spend some time at the coast. The whole shibang. Anyways, that's it. You survived! Congratulations :)
Before we leave, just a thought... Is it just me or were laffy taffy jokes way funnier 15 years ago?
-Tasha
