Long Time, No See...

Why, hello to those few who follow my blog! Once again, I stink at blogging. :) A lot has happened in my life since my last blog update, so I guess this update will be a catch-all.

Times Square!

Last Christmas, my husband, Jason, surprised me with a trip to New York City and tickets to see Wicked on Broadway! Despite the below freezing temperatures, we had a blast seeing the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Wicked, Ellis Island, Times Square, and so many other things!

Empire State Building!

Statue of Liberty!

In May, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dallas Baptist University with my Bachelor of Music in Church Music with an Emphasis in Piano! Now that I'm done with school, I am excited to finally be able to focus on my piano studio/students! I also still accompany out at the school, which is a lot of fun. I had thought that I would be less busy after I graduated, and that is not the case at all. It's just a different

kinda of busy. 

~ Me and the Dean of the Music Department, Ron Bowles ~

~ Me & My Family on Graduation Day ~

  

In June, I got to take a road trip with my mom up to Colorado to pick up my brother from a camp he went to. We had a blast making new memories! We got to see the Royal Gorge, Pikes Peak, Seven Falls, and enjoy the small town of Manitou Springs.

(I'll have to come back to add pics of Colorado... :-/ )

In August we joined a new church and are enjoying getting plugged in there! After having spent about three months looking for a new church, and then about two months praying about whether or not this was the church God had called us to, it has been wonderful being a part of a church family again! Not too long after we joined, I volunteered to help with the music for the Wednesday night youth services. I was expecting to just play the piano behind the scenes like I always do, but God apparently had something else in mind! I am now the worship leader for our youth group called Above Average (AA). Definitely completely out of my comfort zone, but I am enjoying it so much! I get to sing and play piano! It's really neat being a part of something in which you can really see God working and allowing things to grow. Each week, the youth group is growing, and we can really see God's blessing on it.  

In September, Jason and I bought our very first house and were thrilled to be moving out of our apartment! Our house is wonderful... 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 living areas! We have so much space, that we don't know what to do with it, but we enjoy it so much. And it gives me a room to have my studio, which has been great. It very quickly began to feel like home, and we are excited to actually have room to have friends over! As of right now, we have not done much personalizing with the exception of the master bedroom, which was sea-foam green. It is not blue and brown to match our bedding! The rest of the house will be personalized with time. :)

Jason getting messy with the paint!

Our room all done! :) That was a LOT of hard work!

(Hmm... I will also have to come back to add more pics of the house. :(  )

About 1 1/2 months after moving into our house, we got Brandy! Brandy is our 3 year old Golden Retriever who has stollen our hearts! (Yes, even Jason's... ) She's really my dog and knows it, but she does love Jason too. We bought her from a friend who decided that it was time to stop breeding Goldens and was looking to sell a few of her dogs. If you've been on my blog before, you've probably seen a picture or two of Nicki (my family's Golden), and Brandy is actually her niece! Cute, huh? :) We got them from the same person.

First meeting Brandy!

Brandy waiting for me to get
back from checking the mail. Cute, eh?

"Please pet me!"

After her bath!

For an update on Jason (the things I didn't mention above), he joined the Sunnyvale Volunteer Fire Department back in January and really enjoys that! He is still working on getting on with a paid department, but is getting a lot of experience with the volunteer work!

Well, I think that's enough of an update for the time being... I'll try to update more often. Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, or whatever else you all do when you visit blogs! ;D Also, feel free to look me up on Facebook and Twitter. I'm on Facebook all the time, and I'm trying to be more consistent with my Tweets.

Have a very blessed day!