Yay internet!

I've been dying to update my blog for several weeks now, but around the holiday weekend, Comcast decided they weren't able to send someone out to set up our internet until yesterday.

The apartment is still a bit of a mess...I came down with a sinus infection during my three-day weekend, which seriously interrupted our progress. However, the vast majority of our stuff is put away, our kitchen and bathroom are completely functional, and we now have cable and internet. I feel like our living room is doomed since right now my knitting and its coordinating supplies are scattered all over it, and yet it gives it a nice homey touch. Though, I think I'm going to make a goal to put all of my stash away so that it takes up less space than it is currently.

We tested the apartment out as a hang-out tonight. Ana, Sara and I all sat in one corner knitting our respective projects while James and Jordon played Super Smash Bros. on James' N64...which, by the way, has to be one of his more brilliant ideas for personal amusement when at my place :) Everything seems to have worked out well...it's not perfect, but how much in life is? This apartment pretty much rocks.

Living in Ballard is wonderful. I tested out the convenience last week on one of my days off and ran errands on foot all morning. I managed to go window shopping, drop off dry cleaning (Yes Mom, you were right, pleated wool skirts don't pack well :P ), get a haircut, and go browse the library. Basically, Ballard is all the convenience of a small town, with all the variety of a major city. I love it! We'll see how much I still like it when school starts and I'm commuting to SPU instead of downtown.

Speaking of which, I CANNOT wait until school starts up again. Working is great, the paychecks are nice, but I'm ready to get back to being a full-time student with only a part-time job. I'm ready to live my life in the practice rooms (and wherever else I practice) and attend classes, commute on the bus using a card rather than cash, see all of my friends, and go crazy with how many ensembles I have...this will be a great year, and I can't wait to start it (and hopefully on the right foot) :D

I added another ensemble to the list of ones I'm involved in at school...I didn't think 5 was enough, so I auditioned for Cascade Youth Symphony...and now I'm their psuedo-principal horn player :) I say psuedo because I won't always be playing first, but rather, they trade around the lead parts based on the difficulty of the piece compared to the experience of each player. Translation: the more challenging the piece and the solos in it, the more likely I'm on first. I really don't mind the idea of not always being lead, since I love having other people getting the chance to play some solos. Plus, in the big pieces that we can't play at SPU (like Jupiter from the Planets), I'll probably be playing the horn parts that I need the experience in.

Basically, my entire point in adding on CYSO is to bump up my contact with major orchestral works that I'll probably be building my career upon. I want to make sure I'm getting as much experience as is possible.

I also reached the 10% mark on my hexipuff quilt today...80 hexis down, and only 720 (or so) to go :P I enjoy seeing it come together bit by bit, and seeing my bag fill up. Life is good, and I'm excited to see it keep coming by day by day :)

~Allie

A rather short update...

Well, it's now mid-August, only two weeks until September, and Ana and I are still apartment hunting. We've found lots of potential places, but it's highly competitive to get an apartment starting September 1st. We're crossing our fingers for an awesome apartment in Ballard that would be incredibly convenient for both of us. An update on this later will hopefully get posted.

In my bigger news of the day, I finally got a new phone! My poor old phone that I had had for over 2 years suddenly got the white screen of death (so if you've tried to text me in the last two days, sorry, I didn't get it), and I was pretty much cell phone-less. I ran down to the AT&T store downtown today and found out that to get the 3G iPhone would only cost me $5 more than what I was already paying monthly, so here I am with a brand spanking new iPhone! I've never owned a smartphone before, so all of the fun new things like email and applications are quite the new experience for me. I'm really excited to use my "Onebusaway" app for riding the bus in the morning.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot to say...still working full time and enjoying my weekends where I can actually get stuff done (since they're on Tuesday and Wednesday rather than Saturday and Sunday). James did take me out last night. We had sushi and went to a movie (The Help) after wandering around UVillage for a while. I love him so much, and I definitely feel so blessed to have such a keeper!

Love to you all!

~Allie

Life at its finest

Nearly six weeks until school begins yet again, and three until I (hopefully) move into my apartment with Ana. I think I'm going to keep working for another 5-ish weeks so I can maximize the amount of money I can make before working only 10 hours a week again in the school year.

Oh yeah, did I mention I got a job? I bus tables at an awesome little cafe by Pike Place. The best part, besides the fact that I have said job, is that I'm getting to work full time, make minimum wage hourly, plus tips! I think this week I've already worked 27 or so hours, and I'm still on for a full day tomorrow, so about 35 hours this week? Thank you, God, for supporting me and helping me save lots of money!

I found a knitting project for commuting every day, also, as lace doesn't travel very well (and you have to be able to look at your pattern while knitting lace anyway). It's called the Beekeeper's Quilt, and it's the cutest thing ever! Basically, I knit tons and TONS of hexagons that are only a few inches wide, then whenever I'm done (in a few years :D), I attach them all together and have a beautiful, colorful quilt! I have about 30 "hexi-puffs" and have been very fo

rtunate to have many wonderful people who have given me yarn so that my blanket has been incredibly inexpensive thus far! Here are some of the puffs I've knitted (though I've knitted a lot more of course!). They take about 30-40 minutes for each one, which makes them perfect for riding the bus downtown, watching tv, etc. Eventually I'm sure I'll get really sick of knitting them, but until that happens, I'm hoping to keep blazing forward!

My goal is a full or queen sized quilt, which I've estimated will need about 800 puffs (see why I said it would be a few years?). When Ana and I move into our apartment, I'm hoping to convince her that we need a pretty (large) glass cylinder or something for a centerpiece so I can store my puffs for everyone to see! They're so pretty, why would I want to hide them?

Also, an update in the horn aspect of my life, I finally bought new mutes, as mine wasn't up to snuff. I got a new straight mute to replace mine, and also invested in a practice mute, so that even when I can't access the practice rooms, I can still get practicing done. Both mutes are made by Ion Balu, an awesome mute-maker. (Mute maker? I think he probably has a better title than that :P) I'm expecting to get them on Tuesday, which will be perfect since it's my day off! I'll hopefully post pictures whenever they come :)

There's not much more to be said for now, except that I'm excited that I'm over halfway done with summer. I can't wait to see you, SPU friends!

~Allie

On summer and lace knitting

I love having a job now. Well, having a psuedo-job. I now am a busser at the same little cafe where my sister waitresses, though we haven't actually done the paperwork, nor do I have a real schedule. But, just last week I put in fifteen hours, and I know that my boss thinks I'm doing a great job, and is talking about me in reference to the future. *crossing my fingers* that it all works out!

In the meantime, however, most of the rest of my time is spent practicing (well...hardly. *looks down in shame* I really have been happy with putting in an hour a day, which has been super inconsistent. I'll be glad to get back to school.) and knitting. Having met with my horn teacher several times this summer, I know I'm actually still making progress in my playing (not having ensembles helps make my practice sessions more strenuous since I'm not worried about saving face for later), but I know I could be doing so much more. I'm getting over a lot of my confidence issues...maybe I'll learn to play fortissimo as well solo as in an ensemble?

Now that I'm off-duty for dog sitting, I'm going to work really hard to get a daily schedule put back in place. I'm hoping a schedule could look something like:

6:30 AM Wake up, eat breakfast, exchange pjs for biking clothes.

7 AM Bike to athletic club, swim for an hour, go through whole routine to get ready

9/9:30 AM Bike back to house, get horn out, practice for an hour

10:30 AM Take time to do stuff around the house (laundry, going through stuff, etc.)

11:30 AM Make lunch

12:00 PM Practice horn

1:00-4:00 PM Find a cool place to hide out and maybe knit/read a book/practice again?

5:00 PM Dinner

6:00-10 PM Maybe get to hang out with people (*cough* James *cough*)

10:30 Be asleep!

Of course, then the schedule gets fudged on days where I work, since when I become all "regular", work will start at 7 AM, which means I have to be on the bus by 6:15, so on, so forth. *sigh* This is mildly frustrating. In fact, I think it's the chief reason I wish I was back at school. I'd do anything to have a set schedule again.

On a totally different note, I'm discovering that I'm really into lace knitting. For my non-knitting followers, envision those beautiful tablecloths that people like your grandparents would pull out for important occasions. No, I'm not knitting tablecloths, but I'm doing that same style of knitting. It's so beautiful and delicate, and there's something terribly exciting about knitting something up, then after washing it and pinning it the way I want, I get a dried product that is much larger and more beautiful than what I got to see as I was knitting it.

There are lots of different kinds of knitters, I've determined. My aunt loves knitting socks, and my friend Olivia is passionate about sweaters (she's determined to get me to knit one). I like socks and really want to learn to knit a sweater, but my go-to project type is becoming "pretty lacy things." Also, for the record, I like knitting projects that have cables...that cool braided effect just makes me happy (and they look much harder than they really are!).

For those of you rolling your eyes and laughing at me for such a lame hobby, at least I can say that my hobby makes things that I can wear or give away as presents :D I think I have half my Christmas presents ready to go already!

'Til next time,

~Allie

Summer update number...two?

So, yeah...I know...you're all sitting there, enjoying your summer, not being asked to do anything that might use brain power, and now I'm posting this hoping you'll read it. Well, don't worry, there's not a whole ton to say (I mean, it's summer, what kind of drama could there be, right?).

Well, anyway, I'm still living with my aunt and uncle, who just took off for their last big trip of the summer, so I'm on Baxter-duty again. Not the worst place to be, even without a real job. I have some other pet sitting jobs lined up for the next couple weeks after they come home as well, so I'm not completely screwed. I'm very happy to know that I am blessed enough to have a roof over my head, food to eat, and even means to pay for my trip and the few bills I have to pay. My family has taken excellent care of me, and I am incredibly grateful.

I got to go to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter, which was excellent, I might add. I was glad to have to opportunity to go to my first midnight premiere, though to be perfectly honest, the havoc it wreaked upon my sleep schedule wasn't really fun. For that reason, I may resume simply going to see the movies a few days after they come out.

James left for Arizona almost a week and a half ago, meaning only a week left and I get to see his face again! For a lot of different reasons, we've been running just on phone calls, rather than skyping. It's hard not seeing his face, but it makes me appreciate his voice way more than I typically do when he's around.

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people around me. To all of you who have talked to me, taken care of me and loved me, thank you so much! I love you all :)

Allie

It's summer, and the living is easy

I have gotten so much knitting done, it's not even funny. Well, maybe it is. Honestly, I really like how I relax while knitting...between it and swimming, my stress levels are down in the basement.

I'm fascinated by some things that have come up in my life recently. There's a pretty cliche idea about how you should learn from your mistakes, but no one talks about how to avoid making mistakes in the first place. Don't get me wrong, there's some good reason to make mistakes, since sometimes it takes standing in the coals to figure out how (or how not) to do something. I'm pretty much the poster child of learning the hard way. Remember how your parents always told you not to stick things in the electrical sockets? Yeah, I still stuck bobby pins in and ended up having my mom pull me off because I couldn't let go. Trust me, I never made that mistake again, but obviously, that could have been avoided.

So, here's the idea: try learning from your friends and family's mistakes. Another example on how I'm going to try this out comes from just some day to day stuff. I was working the other day, and decided to go and practice for an hour. A friend I haven't seen in forever texts me, asking if I'm up to anything because they're in town and has some time to go get coffee. Since I was bike-commuting, I requested that they come to me because it would be faster, meanwhile putting my horn away (I got a warm up in first, so not a total loss) and running up to get on my bike to get to the coffee place. I get in, order my drink, then sit down at a nice table. They keep updating me with calls and texts, and I'm told that the Fremont bridge had gone up, delaying them for a while. Then, fifteen minutes later, I get a call and my friend tells me that they really need to run back and pick up their friend that they were hanging out with, drop them off somewhere, then they'll come back to have coffee. Another half-hour passes and I start to get frustrated because it feels like I'm being blown off. I call up James to tell him what's up, and just to find someone to talk to since there wasn't much to do in the shop anyway. Then I get the text:

Hey, it's just not going to work out today. Sorry.

Oh, I was so angry...I can't even describe how angry I was. James got to hear the lovely rant I had, mostly about how sick I was of people just taking my time and wasting it because all they could think about was their own schedule, their own lives, and not having consideration for the others around them.

Life lessons from this situation: be punctual...or call if you're not being punctual. The other person could use your lateness to get stuff done rather than just sitting around waiting.

Next, don't try to just stick someone into your schedule. I think that was the most hurtful part of this situation. I was just smashed into an apparently full schedule, so therefore I was the first thing to go when the schedule was starting to fall apart.

Third, don't tell someone you're not going to show up by text. By God, you had better at least call. Texting is super convenient, and a fast way to tell someone some information, but if you're standing them up, it's so un-kosher, it's not even funny.

So, all three of these things are going to be pieces of information that I keep in mind so that none of my friends will deal with the same stuff I have (or hopefully they won't). I'm not trying to be self-righteous, I know I'm going to screw up...I already have so much with my friends. But if I start working to learn not just from my mistakes, but also from others', then maybe I'll end up being a better friend than if I just concentrated on my own mistakes.

Moving into the update part of my blog (since I figure that's why most of you are here), Baxter hates his splint, so my day is full of amusing him so that he stops chewing it off. Baxter's a dog, for those of you who just thought that I'm friends with one very odd child.

I finally got scheduled to have a lesson tomorrow, which is exciting. Hopefully I'll keep moving forward in my playing. I know that an hour a day isn't where I was during the school year, but I can still see improvement happening, and this actually is the first summer where I'm actively practicing.

Swimming and biking is continuing, and I can feel my body getting whipped into shape, which is a very different feeling than my usually soft muscles. I can't wait to see how my arms and legs look at the end of this summer :D

I hope everyone is having a great summer and goes out to enjoy some sun (take sunscreen!) :)

Allie

A quick update, nearly a month later...

Here we are, a month after my last update, and life is awesome! The last month has been up and down, but mostly moving in the upward direction (what other direction can you go when you've just completed another 8 months of full-time school?). I finished spring quarter with a cumulative 3.4 GPA. It's down just a tiny bit from last quarter, but I can't really complain after how much stuff happened near the end.

Just before finals week, I was nearly done with all of my packing when, while sleeping, I apparently clenched my teeth together for something like 6-8 hours straight out of stress. Obviously, my jaw did not appreciate this, and I was in a serious amount of pain. James, being the sweet guy he is, decided he wanted to help, and brought me ibuprofen and took me up to a sports store to get an athletic guard (the dentists say they're just as good as a night guard made in an office). The vibrations were awful, and I'll admit to crying most of the way there and back. *Side note, James made a quip about how I'm not allowed to have children with this kind of pain tolerance :D* The night guard was a good idea, but I was in so much pain, I couldn't handle the idea of trying to make it. Since clenching was what caused my pain, I didn't really want to do any more clenching, even if it was only a minute of it to help make something that might help. I'll admit, this was probably stupid decision number 2 (number 1 was not having a night guard weeks earlier when the dentist told me to go get one).

By the end of the weekend, I was mostly moved into my new place, and in just as much pain as ever, if not more. I probably was still grinding my teeth at night, the pain just causing more stress, causing more grinding, causing more pain, etc. By either Monday or Tuesday, I went into the school medical office and saw a nurse practitioner. She prescribed me muscle relaxants for the nighttime, and Vicodin for the pain. Story's over, right? Wrong :/

The Vicodin did absolutely nothing. I was in even worse pain, the muscle relaxants helped some, but they weren't controlling any pain either (for good reason, that's not their job). I don't think I made it another two days before James came over to my new place (which is my aunt and uncle's house, by the way) and found me curled up in a ball crying in one of the armchairs, with a very concerned one-year-old golden retriever trying to figure out what was wrong. I had a final that afternoon, but I knew I wouldn't make it, so I called my professor's office phone. I kind of pulled myself together before the call, but clearly it was obvious that I was in pain because he asked me if I needed to be calling 911 instead. Oh, and he was totally fine with me missing the final and making it up later.

After hearing from someone other than James that I seemingly needed to go to the hospital, I finally agreed, and the two of us headed over to the ER nearby to see what was wrong. I didn't get a new diagnosis; the doctors in the ER agreed that I just was in a lot of pain, that it would go away eventually, and the point was to control it now. They also informed me that part of the reason the Vicodin wasn't working was because it was not an anti-inflammatory, therefore ibuprofen would be more efficient in this case. So, they sent me off, with a stronger muscle relaxant, instructions on how much ibuprofen to take, as well as Percocet.

Never, EVER try to have a normal existence while taking Percocet. Even though I felt somewhat sane, there were many moments where I felt like I was floating around the ceiling, and apparently my friends had a heck of a time trying to understand me, since my speech was rather impaired (apparently...I only knew that I was having issues finding words a lot more than usual).

So...the point is, the pain went down enough that I was willing to make a night guard, which also coincided with the completion of all my finals, and the end of my sophomore year of college. Suddenly I slept way better and soon after, I was able to reduce down to just ibuprofen. Thank God.

Meanwhile, since then I have puppy-sat for my wonderful hosts, started working regularly in the library, knit up a storm, and went to a friend's wonderful wedding. I bike everywhere, swim nearly every weekday morning, and eat tons (yes, my friends, Allie is eating three good meals a day! What exercise will do for a person!). I can come and go at will, I go to work when I want to, work as long as I want, and leave whenever I'm ready. I practice before and after work (sort of convenient when you work in the music department) and knit in all the rest of my free time. Life is good! (and low-stress, which is exactly what I needed)

Tomorrow brings the beginning of a new lace project, some more swimming and work, but I really do look forward to each day now! Oh, and I've discovered Seattle's public library system...what have I been doing all these years without it?! So many knitting books I can have access to!!!

Until the next interesting thing happens (probably my birthday in T-minus 11 days),

Allie