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If you just believe


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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Be Not Afraid

You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst.
You shall wander far in safety, though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words in foreign lands, and all will understand.
You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid. I go before you always.
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest.

Blessed are your poor, for the kingdom shall be theirs.
Blessed are you that weep and morn, for one day you shall laugh,
And if wicked tongues insult and hate you all because of me,
Blessed, blessed are you.

Be not afraid.
I go before you always.
Come, follow me, and I will give you rest.





Monday, April 13, 2009

Mish-Mash

I am so incredibly boring. I just updated myself on everyone else's blogs, and feel completely behind. Of course, what do I really have to say? dot dot dot

Well, this week has been QUITE a long one. I have been to church literally five times. The church in question is located in Brooklyn, a mere 1.5 hour ride from my apartment. Were it not for the la
rge sums of money being acquired, it may not be deemed worth it. This is an Episcopalian church, which I don't believe I have ever attended before. After a few weeks of this, I now see why. It is quite long and monotonous. We basically spend an hour and a half (at least) going through the repetitive motions of tradition and listening to a priest attempt to sing. Growing up Presbyterian, this is quite different, and honestly not as enjoyable. It ends up being less inspiring and moving, and more tiresome. It has, however, been very nice to spend so much time in a church and worshiping one way or another, especially with all the nice MSMers who I have come to enjoy quite a lot. I have spent a lot of time withe Jesus lately, and it feels really nice and refreshing. He is awesome. Don't let me move on, though, without stating that on Saturday night, we had a 2.5 hour service. If you crave a good laugh, ask for details.

On Tuesday next, aka 2 days from now, I shall be traveling to Chicago. I have never been there that I can recall, and am quite excited. Not so much for the city itself, as for the idea of travel and the visiting of Olivia. We shall be partaking together in the communion of health and getting-better-ness and the paths to amazing singing. It will be wonderful. And fun.

What else is occurring. . . . .well, I'm still waiting for a divine answer to what I will be doing this summer. I have four options: 1. Travel to Italia and sing scenes from my favorite operas on the Amalfi Coast, while taking lessons with my wonderful teacher,
2. Stay in NY for June and do the MSM Summer Voice Institute, entailing two lessons a week with my wonderful teacher and work with the opera department, 3. Become wealthy and do both programs one after the other, or finally 4. Do no programs, commute for lessons in June, and spend the remainder of the summer working and sunbathing. I trust I will get an answer to this dilemma soon, as deadlines are approaching! I honestly don't know what the right answer is at this point, or what I even want it to be.

In other news, as anyone interested/understanding of the subject knows, I have been hilariously toying with the idea of becoming a mezzo. It is the first time since I switched out of the hell hole that was contraltodom that I have not been completely offended and put off by the suggestion, but when Ms. Hoffmann made it, I actually gave it some thought. Of course, not helping the fact is that the most likely way I would get casted as something here is to be a mezzo, since they're often in favor of casting soprano roles lighter than average, and there are plenty of lighter sopranos than I, but regardless, it has been fun to play with the thought. I am not convinced of it, though, and almost definitely am a soprano. Alas, it was fun while it lasted. But what world would it be if I weren't singing Puccini?


So now, I s
hould probably enter into the land of slumber. It is Easter, so I shall depart with some Bible love.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son,that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have everlasting life.For God did not send His
Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.


- John 3:16

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Dream a Little Dream

Wow. So it took a few days, but this semester is finally off to an amazing start! I'm finally in Cynthia Hoffmann's studio, which I wanted originally, and I've realized that this really makes all the difference. You have to know that you're in the right place and on the right track, or nothing else matters. Something was just off last semester (slash the entirety of last year), but I am incredibly excited to get it back on! Start of a new year! I'm already so much happier to go to school every day, and little things that seemed so tedious before now seem perfectly fine! And I've been so much more productive this week! I finally got a locker at school so I don't have to carry my coat around all day. That is quite nice.

Ok, I just breaked to watch The Office. Nothing really happened this week. . . but I LOVE the show now! hahah!! Thanks to Corey, I'm completely caught up and obsessed.

So any other news? Oh! I saw Benjamin today! We got coffee, and it was amazing. We'd seen each other twice randomly in the city, but today we finally met and caught up! It was so wonderful. It's been four summers since our beautiful summer in Italy, so I am quite proud that we have stayed in touch! He started his own theater company, so I'll be going to see them perform at some point next month. How exciting for him!!!

Oh, and Olivia, thank goodness, is ready to buy New Moon, meaning she has become at least a little bit hooked on Twilight!!! Which really couldn't make me happier. It is perfection in a bottle. Except it's not actually in a bottle.

I'm still reading Pride and Prejudice, and really need to finish so I can watch the movie. It's been a while since I've actually read any of it. . . .woops. But now I can put a picture of Colin Firth on here, as he is quite gorgeous.
DREAMY!!!!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Back in the Saddle

So it is the start of another semester. I'm sitting in bed, listening to Franki Valli and the Four Seasons, and staring at my computer screen.
Today was my first day back at school. After the end of the last semester, I really needed to recharge, refresh, and "re-positize" myself. Going home is really the cure for this every year. After being home with my family for a few weeks, I'm grounded and happy and ready to take on the world! This time, however, when getting back to school, something was still off. I really can't put my finger on it. I'm still positive and happy, and making all efforts to do things to make my life full and exciting, but something is missing. I'm still in the process of adjusting a few things in regards to school, so perhaps this is what's subconciously affecting things. I'm hoping this is the case. I bought a beautiful new planner today to help with the excitement of a new year! It's 2009! We're growing up so fast, I can't handle it!
Jake came up with me this weekend to help because I had far too much stuff to bring up on my own. It was nice, though, because he hadn't been to visit yet! (Insanity, I know.) We got off later than we'd planned, of course, but we toured Broadway, ate at the very New York-ish "Chipotle," and saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Lincoln Center, which was so beautiful. I loved it. Amazing story, not to mention Brad Pitt looked quite lovely. Then on Sunday we ate at Tom's Diner, went to Target to get some school supplies, and walked around the city some more. We were tired. Haha

Also, I am going home tomorrow night to be there when my mom has her surgery on Wednesday. I hope it goes well and she gets all better. Prayers are appreciated. :)
I realized today that being reminded why we're doing what we're doing and how much we love what we do is really the key to the world. No matter what hardships are occuring, or how boring school may be, or whatever the case, we need to remind ourselves how much we love what we do, and that we were given these gifts for a reason. Music is amazing.
"Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies." ~Edward George Bulwer-Lytton