Middle School *shudders

Okay just kidding. Middle school isn't THAT bad. But sometimes I come home exasperated. Kayla's post inspired me but also bummed me out. I am such a passionate human being and one thing I'm passionate about is singing and music. And lets be honest... opera is the best kind of singing and a... (pardon me while I put on my music snob spectacles) one of the best genres of music. It's so incredible what people can do with their own tiny tiny cords and face and mouth and lungs and stuff!!!!! Middle school singing is, pretty underwhelming for me. I feel like a glorified babysitter most of the time. Although today my eighth grade choir was on fire!! When they all sing the same vowel they sound amazing!!! We were very excited. Over all my student teaching is going really well. Next week I will be half way. I am actually really loving band too, although my dislike of saxophones has grown. Of course I would never tell them that ;) There are a lot of things I really do enjoy about being a teacher. When students see me in the hallways and say "Mrs. Gruber!!!!!" It makes my whole self just feel so awesome. When they are excited to see me or we make really good progress, it makes me feel so great and like I'm making a difference. I don't know if I'll teach forever but it is a great start. I'm doing well and missing the fam! Alex and I are pretty boring. Haha, he has three part time jobs on campus and has loads of homework and I come home completely exhausted every day. We've been watching a lot of parks and rec. It's a hilarious show. We also cook delicious dinners most nights... We LOVE to cook together. I hope you're all doing well and pray for you all every day! Love you!

p.s. guess what calling I just got...

yep. Ward choir director :'D Claaaaaasic

Here's a picture of us being weird and boring.

Just a Fun Thing

Hi!

Guys, I really want to zip line.

Particularly somewhere awesome. 

Check this out! 

And the bear is pretty cute too.

http://www.usatoday.com/videos/virtual-reality/vrtually-there/2016/12/29/-adorable-encounter-grizzly-bear-vr/95922112/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=exchange

Make sure you click on the screen and then use your

 arrows to see the whole 3D thing.

Jump ahead to about 2:00 in this one and watch

a little of this one too.

Very pretty!

( ignore the people. Kind of annoying.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKIPqY7KB2A&t=58s

That's all.

Mom out

Rehearsal Nights

Hey guys!
My thoughts on Mom's post- I think one of the best things we can do is actually post on this stinking blog. I'm so. bad. at remembering it.... SO, I thought I'd tell you about my night.



Specifically, I'll tell you about a love story since we're close to Valentine's day.

Mimi lives next door to a group of artsy guys in the crappiest, coldest part of the city. She comes in one day hoping someone can light her candle since it's getting dark and she doesn't have anything. She accidently drops her room key when she meets this handsome, kind, writer named Rodolfo who happens to live right next door to her. He tries to help her. (He's cold too, since he and his roommates just burned the manuscript for his drama to stay warm.)

They realize they're perfect for each other and fall in love. They do fun things like go to town, buy bonnets, sneak out of restaurants after eating so they don't starve on Christmas Eve (they had to pay rent) and help Rodolfo's friend Marcello with his crazy love for the town star, Musetta.

But Mimi gets sick and he becomes a jerkface to hide the fear that he's going to lose her. They reconcile and tell each other how much they love each other as their friends run to sell things for medicine, but Mimi dies before then. And it's devastating. 

That's the condensed version of La Boheme. And Puccini writes some of the most passionate music in the history of the world. I was sitting in rehearsal today with lines of people doing tech notes, chorus members dispersed around the room, and I was horribly sick trying not to cough more horribly than Mimi, sitting on the dirty floor watching these two actors sing about the pain and joy that come with love for each other in various states of rehearsal costume and I was still tearing up. The gut instincts of both hurt and love and excitement and loss that come with this opera are why it's one of the most loved operas ever. It's so beautiful. I get to sit on that dirty floor and see them rehearse this. I have singers coming to my school who would later perform in rehearsal giving me advice about my career and what they've done. And I get to work with a creative genius of a stage director who has given me quite a bit of individual direction. And I'm getting paid a little to do it.

I've had a little bit of a pity party week being sick, tired, and tired of not knowing all the things I feel like I should know at my age. Not knowing what your actually doing with your life will do that... But that one moment (in Act 3 where Mimi realizes that Rodolfo is terrified) that Puccini gave me tonight was the reminder of why I'm trying to pursue one of the hardest careers in the world. To explore, express, and share the human condition is a worthy lifetime goal I think. Opera sunk in its hooks and the more I do, the more I want it. It's about love. And dang it, I love it.

We move into the theater for rehearsal on Sunday!!! YAY!!! I'll post a picture of it maybe. The Tennessee theater is BEAUTIFUL.

Listening To Each Other's Heartbeats

Hello, my Fellow Awesome Humans!.

It's been forever since I blogged. 

I have been thinking and thinking about something

for a couple of months now.

I have talked to some, maybe all of you about it,

but I would like to put my thoughts in writing so

I have a place to refer back to, and so you

can add your thoughts to the pot.

We are smarter all together, I think.

Also, this is as good a place as any to share

 some of my photos I took Saturday when

 Dad and I went to Minnehaha Falls.

It was gorgeous, by the way.

Although, so so grey!

(and there I go rhyming again)

So, what I've been thinking about is family unity.

It's something that we were known for, 

as a family,

as you all were growing up.

I taught Relief Society classes.

Dad and I talked in church.

We had many other parents ask us about

 it privately. For many reasons,we were 

a close group as you grew.

The biggest thing that I credited it to was TIME.

Time together is such a huge thing.

When you were young we didn't have internet or cell

phones (or money. Ha!) and we played together.

We read together. We went for drives together.

We explored, we sang, we talked, 

we ate, we laughed, etc.

We weren't perfect, but we did a good job, I think.

But times. They change.

You have all grown and are working on your own

 lives, and some of you, your own families.

But we are still an awesome family, 

albeit a larger one.

How do we maintain unity when we are in different 

states and busy  with such different things?

I think a big piece of that is still time. 

And I get that that is super tricky now.

But we have to KNOW each other to be connected.

To listen to "each other's heartbeats",

as it were.

Anyhoo, so I am asking you smart, grown up people:

How do we maintain that unity? 

I am really interested in your thoughts and ideas.

A couple of thoughts that I had were to

1 Have common things we all pray for, like

 specifically for family unity, or 

if we know someone is struggling,

 has a big test, is sick, etc.

 I know we do some of that already.

2 Have quarterly family fasts

3 Have some common goals?

4 I don't know. I'm reaching here.

Do you have some personal or family goals

 that you are  willing to share here?

 I would love to be  inspired and motivated.

You have always done that for me.

Do you have any ideas to promote family unity 

through our growth, change, and distance?

 (and help the newer folks feel included and part of the family)

Please share!

Guys, I like us.

I think we are pretty great.

And I like that whole forever family thing.

Seems like a good idea.

And to be honest,

I could use some bolstering.

Also, I really like being your mom.

It's pretty cool.

Sometimes our hearts get tangledAnd our souls a little off-kilterFriends and family can set us rightAnd help guide us back to the light.~Sera Christann

And a story for your enrichment:

The story is told of a young boy who visited his uncle, a lumberjack. At the lumber camp, the boy saw a massive tree standing alone on the top of a hill. He enthusiastically pointed the tree out to his uncle, saying, “Look at that big tree! It will make a lot of good lumber, won’t it?”

His uncle looked down at the boy and shook his head. “No, son, that tree will not make a lot of good lumber. It might make a lot of lumber but not a lot of good lumber. When a tree grows off by itself, too many branches grow on it. Those branches produce knots when the tree is cut into lumber. The best lumber comes from trees that grow together in groves. The trees also grow taller and straighter when they grow together.”

Drawing a lesson from this story, Elder Henry D. Taylor (1903–87) of the Seventy said, “It is so with people. We become better individuals, more useful timber when we grow together rather than alone.”

This is an article from the Ensign on

unity that I thought was nice.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2016/12/why-is-unity-important?lang=eng

Okie. I have nothing else to say, except I love you 

all and I'm proud of the

people you have grown up to be.

I clearly put an annoyingly way-too- many 

nature pictures on here.

Hehe.

So write some stuff.

And let's build each other.

Love,

Mom

 The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.  ~Thomas Jefferson

Henry's singing

On his third birthday, here's a video of Henry

 singing  one of his favorite songs! 

True Colors

Hello family!

I just have all the feelings and wanted to quick share. Tonight I got really upset because I stepped in gum on my own kitchen floor. Unfortunately that is only what blew the fuse. Plus it has been such a hard semester. Well I was really upset so Alex was like okay get ready to go, and he took me to the movie theater. We went and saw trolls. It was so cute!! And there was scene that made me cry because it was just so sweet. 

Spoiler alert:

So the main character is this pink bubbly troll named poppy. I really felt like... dis troll is me. Something sad happens in the movie and she turns all gray for a minute because she gets discouraged and loses hope. Well I really teared up during that scene. JT sings her a song called true colors.

Okay listen to this, its the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp9qOlKB0F4

It's really easy to get distracted and things might seem hard, but there are people all around us who love us and make us feel so happy! 

Not to get too sappy but I'm so grateful for Alex because he always helps me feel happy again after I get frustrated or discouraged. :) I also Love you guys. I'm grateful for all of your love and support and I'm happy to have an awesome family to back me up even if we're in opposite corners of the Globe. (Well... US) I am excited to see all of you in a week! 

P.S. The trolls in the movie are always happy because they sing, dance and hug.😍

Hey Fam,

I actually don't have that much to say but I thought I would do a quick update!

It's been a wild ride the past couple of weeks!
I went to the Met!
I went on a hike in the New York mountains!
I played Wagner Tuba for the first time. (Spoiler alert, weirdest instrument ever)
I went to Mike's house for Thanksgiving!
I turned in two 15 page papers!
I took the NYC subway for the first time!
and I'm sure other things that aren't coming to my head.

So first:  I went to the Metropolitan Opera! Mike took me, it was so awesome!

Here is us in the building.  It was super fancy.  A nice German couple took our picture.  I'm not super thrilled with the picture, but that's ok.  It's the only one I have from inside.  We saw Manon L'escout with Anna Netrebko as the lead role.  It was SOOOOOOOOOO amazing.  Also Mike said he enjoyed it.  Which made me super happy.

Here is us on the train to the city.  It's a silly picture, but it makes me happy so... And this picture is from when we went to Mood fabrics.  For those of you who don't know, that is the fabric store they go to in Project Runway.  Mike LOVES project runway.  Which makes me super happy because I also love it.  The dog is Swatch, he is basically the most adorable little dog ever and gets a decent amount of screen time on the show, because:adorable.

The next three pictures are from my hike.  I went with my roommate Kelci and one of her friends from work.  It was fun! And I don't have a picture, but you could actually see the NYC skyline from the top.  It was pretty awesome.

Ya know, gotta include a really silly picture of us...

Here is me playing the Wagner Tuba.  It's a horrible instrument (Thanks Obama...or should I say Wagner...) It's played in lots of symphonies with HUGE orchestras.  It's basically a horn, but with a slightly different sound.  Wagner created it with the attempt blend the horn sound with the rest of the brass (see: conical vs. cylindrical instruments)  It was fun to play.  This was my "action shot" as Wes Ballard put it as he took my picture.  Lucky you guys, I also included a video of me playing it! So it may seem like at first I was struggling, but the thing about this instrument is that it isn't actually like the french horn at all except the mouthpiece.  So I was sight-transposing, using different fingerings, the placement of the notes were all in the wrong place.  So the fact that I figured it out on like try 3 was kind of amazing.

So I went to Thanksgiving at Mike's house.  No pictures.  It was fun, and I really liked his family, but the truth is, I was super disappointed by dinner.  No mashed potatoes, no rolls, no relish tray.  And I had to eat squash soup.  Not awesome.  Also I didn't get to fill my own plate, and despite my requests, literally the entire plate was filled up with turkey.  I didn't know what to do...But it was fine, and fun, and his family was good so that's all that matters.

 
These pictures are just crazy fruits at the local grocery store.  That crazy yellow thing is called Buddha's hand.  It was super crazy.  I was surprised by all the weird fruits they had.  So I took a picture, naturally.



Here is my selfie.  The elevator in the music building is finally fixed.  It's really fun to take selfies in it because it's all mirror.  I basically take a selfie in it everyday.  I know it's ridiculous, but it is just a such a great spot to take pictures.  Especially since I don't have a full length mirror in my apartment.  Ha...

Well, that's all I have for ya.  I'll be done with my first semester of grad school soon! How crazy is that!  I'll be home late on the 20th and I'll see you all then! 

Kbyee, love you!

Song of the day: This came up randomly on youtube the other day and I realized I had forgotten how much I love this piece.  I require all to listen to it!