Look at Luke!

Here's the latest from Luke. These pictures was taken with the last day. Him just being cute and all that.

He seems to be getting more fun day by day! It's great hearing him vocalizing so much! The funny that we push them to talk and be vocal so much when they're babies, but when the get older we tell them to shut up.
Such a logical race, we humans.

I had a busy week of events going on at the college preparing me for the graduate student experience. I've met many other graduate students in the music department, and they're all really great people that I've been getting along with well. I haven't heard anyone play their instrument yet, but I'm guess these graduate students are all really hot stuff. I can wait to start hearing people play, and to play in ensembles with them.

I've also been working to prepare my stuff for the ensemble auditions which are during the first week of school. It's been a struggle because of the lack of playing I've done this month due to various things like the move, unpacking, and other settling-in sort of things. Lemme tell ya, for those of you who aren't brass players, missing more than a day of practice really puts you out of shape. So, I'm working on getting back into shape. Then, I've got to keep in shape.

It's cool watching Holly interact with Luke. He is like her whole life now, and it seems to make her quite happy. It is quite a lot of work she has to do, which is something that I think the male gender will never really understand. I admit, I don't really understand how much work it is, but I do observe the fact that her attention is always on Luke. She does mention every now and then about going back to work, or at least doing a little substitute teaching. Actually, she's been talking about start graduate studies of her own next year, since we're here. It'll be interesting trying to figure out what to do with Luke. But, in the meantime, for this year at least, she's a full-blown stay-at-home mom, and I'm very thankful she is that. So while she does that, I'll work towards getting closer to my life goals, in addition to providing for the family and proving to the world that I'm not a loser. I say that because the last couple years of really going nowhere in my career, thus not providing very much has really discouraged me. Time for that to end!

Take care and value music.

School starts soon!

I can't wait! This is what I've been looking forward to since March: going back to school. I really enjoyed my time at Central Washington University when I got my Bachelor's, and I was sad when it ended. So you can see my excitement. It's even better because I'm a grad student now, and I have special privileges and responsibilities. And my assistantship package is pretty cool, too. Did I tell you about it? Yeah, sure, maybe. But here it is again. First of all, this is what I have to do. In addition to taking classes, taking lessons and giving a recital, I'm required to play in both the Orchestra and Wind Ensemble (which is awesome), playing in a brass or woodwind quintet (also awesome), teach a horn fundamentals class to Music Education majors (just as awesome), and assist with anything that the horn professor needs me to. Now, what I get for doing all of this for them is my tuition completely paid for, health benefits, and an about $7600 a year stipend. Plus, I got a $2000 scholarship. So, this is a really great opportunity for me, and I get to play my horn a lot.

This week is when the university prepares graduate students for their two-year time here. I'm talking about orientations. Several of them. I heard that they're hell. We'll see, though. I also have my diagnostic exams, which are what the music department has to figure out where you will be placed for graduate level classes. I should do pretty well in them, since I got good grades in undergrad, but I'll still study.

Take care and value music.

I like it here

So now that Holly, Luke & I have pretty much settled into our apartment (not 100%, though), we're able to get out and about more. I've begun making regular trips to the UWM campus to practice my horn, meet professors, & get a few logistical things taken care of. Holly and I both have taken a couple walks around the village of Shorewood, and also have driven to several different locations for things. I've concluded that I really like it here. Everyone said that the town of Shorewood is a very nice place to live...and they were right! Even south of Shorewood, where Milwaukee city limits start is nice. The UWM campus is just south of Shorewood, and it's a very nice campus, too. I already feel comfortable here, which is quicker than I felt comfortable when we moved to the Sunnyside area in Washington state. I guess I've always wanted to live in the city, or at least in the sub-urbs, my whole life. I grew up in a neighborhood near a 20,000-something population city, which was also comfortable, but just not very big feeling. Things were still far away. Now, everything we need seems so close, one thing that's great about living in the city.

So yeah, it's great here. That's what it all boils down to, and I'm sure we're going to enjoy it here for however long we live here.

So on this day, the eve of our anniversary, we didn't do a whole lot. We did take a long walk around Shorewood, mainly to check out what the grocery stores around here were like. There's one really nice little one close to us, but you can tell it's a little more of a higher-end grocery store. The citizens of Shorewood mostly are pretty well off, and don't mind paying a little more for good quality. This store, called Sendik's, didn't have pre-packaged meat in the meat department. Everything was behind a display case for you to pick your own amounts. There was also an elaborate bakery selection, complete with many extremely delicious but fattening and expensive selections.

There was also this store called Pick'N'Save that can be compared to an Albertson's back in Washington state, but is better, I think. We bought some amazing grapes there, lemme tell ya. Also, outside of Shorewood but nearby our house is another grocery store called Piggly Wiggly...no foolin'. They we're a little low-end, but had some good prices of fresh meat.

So that's basically our day. I got to the campus to practice twice. Luke's becoming even more interactive, and quite talkative. The weather's been comfortable here. I'm tired.

Take care and value music.

Settling in

Sorry to be outta touch. Things have been so busy that writing a blog entry has been close to the bottom of my priorities list. Well, it still is, but who cares?

And believe me, getting my priorities straight has not been an easy task. In the midst of all the work on the apartment Holly and I have been doing, I still have things to get ready at the college, as well as things like changing our addresses and paying bills, as well as shopping for things to go into the apartment. Pretty stressful stuff.

So Holly, Luke & I pulled into Shorewood last Thursday the 2nd, and my parents arrived later that morning with the moving truck. We got our first real-life look at our new place, and overall we're pretty happy with everything. The landlord seems like a pretty good guy, and so far we like him. We have good reason to be skeptical, though, so we'll keep an eye on him.

Before my parents showed up with the moving truck, so new friends of ours arrived that we hadn't even met before. A relative of Holly's back in Seattle attends a Salvation Army church, who are known not only for their charity work but also their British-style brass bands used for worship music. Holly and I have both been quite intrigued by this, and have wanted to participate for a while. So, Holly talked it over with this relative, who made some calls to the Milwaukee area before we arrived. We were then called by the Captain (or pastor) of a Salvation Army church in Oak Creek, WI (That's right, Oak Creek) who offered to help us move in. Great! So, right before my parents showed up with the truck, these four big, strong guys come to our door saying they're here to help. Nicest dudes ever, too. So, we had 4 extra people helping with the unloading, which was amazing, and it only took us about an hour and a half to get everything unloaded. Totally amazing. We bought them pizza (well, my parents did) and they were on their way. We attended their church last Sunday (that's right, on Sunday) and it was a nice service. They treated us quite well. Fun to play music in, too. So, I think we'll be going there for a while.

Yeah, we were at that church when that mass shooting at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI happened. The Salvation Army church is less than a mile from the Sikh Temple. Pretty crazy, huh?

My parents hung around for another day. They helped us move a few things around, and we bought them dinner at Applebee's. We also checked out Lake Michigan, which is less than a mile from our house, and it's absolutely amazing. There's this beach near our house called Atwater beach where you can go swimming. Yay, free swimming! Plus the water's warm, un-salted and un-chlorinated. It's really great. And this beach is a sandy beach, too. Anyways, I took my parents to the airport in August 3rd, and they headed home. I drove them down to Chicago because the airfare was cheaper outta there compared to outta Milwaukee. The crappy thing is that Illinois freeways have tons of these stupid toll booths everywhere. It's pretty lame.

For the last week, Holly and I have been unpacking and cleaning up the house. I swear the previous tennants didn't clean the floor. Unpacking has been slow, mainly because only one of us is able to work most of the time. The other has to tend to Luke. But we've made some good progress, and are close to completion. Once we finish, I plan on doing a video tour to show everyone.

So that's that. I really need to start getting prepare for school. There's paperwork to fill out, entrance exams to study for, logistics to take care of, and audition material to prepare. Not to mention my work the concerto I'm playing in October.

Take care and value music.

A hop, skip & a jump

We pulled into Madison, Wisconsin at about 6pm CST tonight for the last night of our big road trip. The cool thing is that Shorewood (our new hometown) is only an hour and a half drive from Madison, so there's not much driving left. We'll have the whole day to unload the truck and get to work unpacking everything.

Our drive today was nice. The majority of it was spent going all the way across southern Minnesota. Nothing much there except corn fields, a few trees and a town every now and then. My parents even agreed that it was quite boring. I'm guessing that Minnesota gets more interesting as you head north. Anyways, once we approached the Mississippi River, the landscape changed completely. The Mississippi River creates the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, and once you get to Wisconsin, you see a whole lot of one thing: trees. These aren't pine trees that are so abundant in WA. I'm not sure what kind of trees these are, but I bet they're the trees that have leaves that change colors in the autumn. If that's the case, Wisconsin is absolutely gorgeous in autumn! I guess we'll find out.

Tomorrow we will arrive at our new apartment at around 9am and get the keys. Then, the unloading process begins. I feel so bad for my parents for having to drive that uncomfortable 24-foot moving truck for the whole trip. I'm so thankful that they've put up with it with no serious complaints. They even paid for some of the fuel. My parents are awesome. Completely awesome. They have always done so much for us, and continue to. This kind of help is unmatched.

What a great state to be in. What a fine time we're going to have. How happy I am for finally getting to do grad school. I've got to take advantage of this. Lots of hard work and dedication, as well as enjoying the area around me. I've got to find the right balance of work and play, which I've never always been good at. It's always been too much play.

Whatever. I'll figure it out. Why worry about it, huh?

Take care and value music.