Lifenoted’s Blog

This weekend has been filled with visits from family.  My favorite quote from the past three days happened after Dad had sneakily made a seemingly innocent comment calculated to produced a lively response from my uncle.  My aunt reprimanded my 45 year-old uncle for being too loud at the dinner table while my 47-year old father quietly snickered at my uncle’s reproof.  

Aunt Christine: “Turk!  Shhh!”

Dad: “hehehehe”

Uncle Turk: “Well Buck started it!”

It’s so hard to write a blog entry after not posting for ages.  This one has been in the works for two days.  And it isn’t even that extraordinary.  Yes, I’ve been woefully remiss in actually posting content to this blog.  I promise that I’ve had several inclinations to blog and have even signed in from time to time for that sole purpose.  But alas, it seems like I’ve been suffering from a severe case of blogger’s block all year. 

But since I am done with the semester and need something to do that makes me feel somewhat productive before I move on to the next thing I have decided to respond to the public outcry against my silence.  I tell you what, those two posts inquiring after an update were quite motivating.

Newsworthy happenings from the past year follow in no particular order:

- Finishing an entire year of graduate studies.  wOOt!

- Becoming a better musician.

- Learning.

- Figuring my way around the labyrinth that is the music building.

- Braving -30 degree temperatures.

-Having both a Meijer and a Walmart within 5 minutes of my apartment (This might not seem that special but it’s quite the luxury after spending four years in rural Indiana where the nearest Walmart was 20 minutes away in the next town over.)

- Friends.

- Learning to speak a little Indonesian and Chinese.

- Visiting Canada for the first time. 

- Finding a church and a Bible study.

- Looking up and recording all the collegiate flute teachers in the United States (this was not necessarily the most enjoyable experience but this was an epic task basically on par with running a marathon or something and thus was included in the list).

- Teaching a college methods class.  This slowly become less terrifying and more fun over time.

- Learning how to eat Chinese hot pot.

- Hanging out with my Taylor girls in Indy.

- Visits from MWF people!

- Realizing yet again that I am horrible at time management and am probably allergic to day-planners.

- Pulling my very first academic all-nighter as a result of horrible time management and lack of day-planner skillz.

It’s too bad these have been boiled down into outline form because they each deserve an entry to themselves.  But this format is just so darn convenient and user friendly!  This year has been a crazy and at times confusing blur (probably due in part to my inability to consistently use my planner) but of the many things I was able to take away from this year, the innumerable expressions of God’s faithfulness and grace top the list.  Fo’ shizzle.  Ask me about it sometime.  I might even elaborate on it beyond outline form

I usually only read “The Way I See It” quotes on my steaming cups of Starbucks heaven to have a good laugh.  But today I was actually surprised to find the quality of content on the outside matched the the delicious goodness of the inside.  Enjoy.

The Way I See It # 76

“The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating–in work, in play, in love.  The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitations.  To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.” – Anne Morriss Starbucks customer from New York City.

My first blog post (on wordpress anyway).  All my creative powers have been poured into naming and designing my site so any attempt to write something witty and entertaining will have to wait.  But hey at least you have something nice too look at even if you have nothing yet to read.