..finish strong

"Start strong and finish strong, but regardless of how you start, finish strong." My favorite Pfaltzgraffism totally explains my next week! I may not have went completely strong throughout the whole semester, but these next 8 days will not ruin me! I'm feeling so good about myself lately! I'm so pumped for summer, sad to be saying goodbye to all of my new, amazing friends here in Wayne, but so glad to be getting a new experience this summer with some awesome people! I have one week of lessons before I have my jury, and I'm not freaking out too much yet! :) I just can't believe how amazing this semester has been going. Aside from the almost transferring, I know staying here is a decision I am happy to have made and I know this is my "home" and where I belong! I don't know what I would do without some of the Professors here at Wayne State. No matter where I end up in my future or what I end up studying, I know Dr. Hepworth and Mr. Phil will always have a special place in my heart and will always mean something special to me! I'm looking forward to finishing up my last lesson with Dr. Hepworth, although I'm expecting some tears. This has meant so much to me :) Here comes the end!

Everybody has those days..

Lessons this morning went so awesome!! We ran through all of my songs to prepare for Jury, and also went through Che Fiero a couple times and I think I finally have it memorized! I'm sooo nervous for the Recital on Wednesday, but I'm up for the challenge :) I want to show everybody how hard I've been working and that I can  do what they can all do. My next challenge is to not freak myself out about this, which is easier said than done! I'm so ready for this semester to be done with, but I am now so happy here in Wayne, that I know my last day here for the semester will be so sad! :( But! That means summer is coming up and I'm so pumped for that! :) Bring on the next 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's The Climb

Well I didn't have lessons this week, but after a short talk and studio today with Dr. Hepworth, I am just so pleased to have the week going this well. I am much more relieved after my Easter Break!! I have let my heart do the talking and turned my brain off...and that may show to some :) I have decided to stay in Wayne to finish out my college life. It just feels right. As much as I wanted to argue it and fight it, this place has become home to me. Every person I have met here has become a part of my family away from home, and I LOVE THAT!! I don't know what I would do without anyone here. I am just so happy and it's taken until now for me to clearly see that. I guess all along, after I stepped back and looked at my life, I have always had a sense of belonging here. It just feels great. :) I'm so excited for next weeks Italian concert! I sang in studio today and I wasn't nervous or anxious at all! I LOVE THIS FEELING!!! Everyone has that sense of comfort when they crawl into bed at night and stretch out and fall asleep. This sounds absolutely crazy, but I totally have that when I sing! It just seems to be what's working for me now! ahhh!!! I'm so happy! :)

The Hardest Thing

Today was probably the roughest day of lessons. I am faced with one of the hardest decisions I've had in a long time. I am so content here in Wayne, but at the same time, I am interested in going to experience somewhere else. There are too many words in my mind to express what I'm feeling to put into this small box.
Besides that, we sang through Che Fiero today and my other Italian song and they both sounded great!! It just feels so awesome! :)
I'm so lucky to have Dr. Hepworth in my life and have someone I can turn to about anything! I'm so blessed! My goal in the next couple weeks is to quit thinking and let my heart do the talking. Let's see how that goes!

Catchin' Up and Keepin' Up!

Talk about craziness! These last 6 weeks have been nothing but going and going! My much needed Spring Break was fabulous, seeing family and friends and getting to catch up on things and just bum around my house with my puppies. :) Even after break, it was nice to come back to Wayne for a short week, then I went right back for Michael's musical, Legally Blonde. He did so amazing and I'm so proud of him! I also got to see a bunch of family that weekend and spend time with them. Even though we didn't have lessons for 4 weeks, it was nice to keep working on memorization and other things to improve myself. This weeks lesson was fun because we got to sing through the song I've been working on the most and will be performing in 2 weeks for Student Recital, which I'm super nervous and scared for. But today, I sang for my first time in studio today! It felt SO AMAZING!! I've been working so hard to get everything right and work together and it was just soooo good! I was scared to death I shook so bad, but it was SO worth it for the round of applause I got twice afterwards. :) Can't wait til next time!!

Take the Leap of Faith...

I forgot to blog last week, but I will just add to this one and make up for it. :) It's been a little crazy in this mind of mine, but as always, I made it through the week and here we are at the start of another! Just doing some more thinking about my future. I've decided that Psychology is what's right for me. I now have to decide what I'm going to do to keep music in my life. I can't be without it, but at the same time, can't have too much of it like I overwhelmed myself with last semester. I'm starting off this week with great enthusiasm for the next month or so! I get to go watch my brother at my hometown show choir competition this weekend, then we take a loooong, much needed break for Midterms, and following I get to watch my brother be a star in his musical Legally Blonde, and then my alma mater perform Sound of Music! I'm so excited! I love being home and seeing my family and friends. I love Wayne, but there's no place like home. :)

This Is The Stuff

"In the middle of this 'ol mess, I forget how big I'm blessed" This week is off to a great start! As much as I didn't want to come back to Wayne, it seems that it takes the smallest things for me to realize how happy I am here in good old Wayne, America! Dr. Hepworth and I had a great lesson today! For not having much a voice this weekend, my lesson was fantastic! I LOVE how I sound!! It's just so...I'm speechless! I love it!! I've tried and tried for years to get my voice to just "click" and I finally am on the right path for that!!! It's just such an amazing feeling! :) :) Here's to keeping my head up through a great week!

Keep On a'Goin

"Keep on keepin' on!" This weeks lesson was very productive. Dr Hepworth and I sang through one of my Italiain songs and it's coming along well! I'm glad that my voice is improving more and more. It's such a great feeling to be doing something so fun that I love and learning more about it! I'm still wanting to change over to Psychology or Counseling, but I'm desperate to find a way to do that and music. I can do anything I put my mind to, so I just need to let myself do it!

Brand New Start

"It's Monday, everybody gets a do-over!" This quote  comes from my favorite movie, Footloose, the new one of course! This seems like the perfect way to start off my week. I'm ready to start off fresh with a happy, positive mind! Lessons were awesome this morning! I got to sing two of my four songs for the semester, which I'm so excited about. My sound was awesome this morning! It felt so awesome to just sing and do it right and without even trying! Awesome feeling! :)

Off to a great start!

Today was lesson number two. Dr Hepworth and I discussed some very important things that have been bothering me for some time. I am trying to decide the path of my life. (as a second semester freshman, I see the humor in that) I am someone who is very headstrong and has always known what I want in life. I know what makes me happy and unhappy and can either thrive on it or forget it completely. I have come to realize that this is why I'm lost lately. I can't say exactly why I'm unhappy in my major right now. I absolutely LOVE music and can't see my life without it every day, but I don't know how much I can handle. I have ideas in my mind of what I would like to see myself being the rest of my life, and music isn't it, but as I just stated, I can't see my life without it!  Towards the end of our lesson today, we started singing my Italian piece a little. I'm super excited to start singing it! It seems like a great song.     At the end of the day, music is what gets me through. But how much is too much?

Here we goooo!!

To start off my second semester at Wayne State, I had voice lessons with Dr. Hepworth. We didn't get to sing together today, but we picked out the songs I will be singing this semester. It was a whirlwind to say the least, but I'm so pumped! I miss having private lessons. Lessons with Joni were what got me through high school. It's great having a confidant to share my passion with music with and also to help me through not only my vocal and musical challenges,  but life challenges as well. I can't wait to see what the rest of this semester brings!