Two Quotes

"Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."  ~ Psalm 139:7-10 NIV

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God.  The world is crowded with Him.  He walks everywhere incognito.  And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate.  The real labour is to remember, to attend.  In fact, to come awake.  Still more to remain awake."  ~ C.S. Lewis

Being Open - Reflecting

I'm a faith-filled person.  A religious person, to an extent.  But I'm not exactly a prayerful person -- it's never been a habit for me.  I do pray, but not regularly (except for at church, that is). 

In spite of it all, especially in my sort of falling away from constant faith in the past couple of years, I am still given answers when I ask.  That is the most amazing part to me, truly unconditional love.  I'm blessed this summer to be filling in as a singer in our LifeTeen band; worship music is what always brings back my connection to God and faith in His love.  It helps me trust and listen.  Reflecting and praying on something that has come up in my heart recently, I was given a quick and direct answer - "Be open." 

It was/is, of course, applicable to what I was asking about at the time.  But living with the thought for the past couple of days has made me realize that I can really apply it to everything in my life.  I like plans - knowing what's ahead and having control over the situation.  I have to constantly remind myself that the ultimate plan has been laid out - I'm in good hands! 

Jeremiah 29:11-13  "11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart."  (NRS)

If I keep my eyes, ears, and heart open to His love, what can I do but trust in the wondrous hope He provides?  :)
Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord - a favorite song of mine (what else to end a post like this?!)

Love&Harmony,
Erin

P.S.  St. Augustine says, "When one sings, one prays twice."  I suppose that has to count for something in all of this... :P

An Apology

"I'm sorry for the person I became.
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to be sure I never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been."
~ Relient K.


Life is messy - human beings are messy. 
I hold myself and the things I do to high standards (consciously and unconsciously) and I don't always make it there.  The past couple of weeks have been one of those times.  I do a lot of things in my life and though I enjoy it all, sometimes it gets overwhelming.  I don't always let that stress and pressure off in positive ways... lately, I've let my negative emotions out in unkind ways on a lot of the people in my life that I hold close to my heart: my friends.  A lot of the time, I didn't even realize it was happening.  For that, I am truly and deeply sorry to anyone I may have, or have ever, hurt because of things I said or did or even through the attitude I might have given off.

If you know me at all, you know that my truest self is not that person.  I want to be the friend that others can come to, depend on, trust, and feel happy and cared for when they are around me.  I hope that that is who I am to you most of the time.  But, I'm human, too.  I screw up.  I'm incredibly thankful for the moments and friends who hold up a mirror for me and remind me, "This isn't who you are."  And I'm especially grateful when you forgive me for it.  You don't have to, but you do anyway - that is the kind of love I always want to give back to you, too.  I'm sorry, and thank you.

I think we're all in need of the break in the week ahead - I'm definitely in need of some time away, to be quiet, reflect, and rejuvenate.  And I'll be looking forward to coming back and making the last part of this school year a great one with all of you - my wonderful, talented, and amazing friends.  :)

New mantra:
Choose JOY over misery,
Choose KINDNESS over malice,
Choose COURAGE over fear,
Choose LOVE over hate.

So, joy, kindness, courage, and love to you all,
<3 Erin

P.S. Just because it's a good song --
Who I Am Hates Who I've Been (acoustic)
and this one because it's one of my favorite songs --
Up & Up
:)

Things that Really Matter

... it is too easy to forget how big the world is.

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/29/10542498-on-assignment-ann-currys-photographs-from-sudans-nuba-mountains

A Girl Who Reads

A friend posted this on facebook -- both a wonderful message and wonderfully written!  :) 
(pick me, pick me!)

Date a Girl Who Reads.

Love&Harmony,
Erin

Inspirational Reminder...

"He loves us because we are a beautiful creation of His and we are beautiful because He loves us, and no one can take that away from us. People can gossip about us or steal from us. They can ignore us or be unkind to us but they can never, never take from us what really matters- the beauty and love that come from God. How freeing. How freeing. What matters most can never be taken or stolen."

From: http://soltsisters.blogspot.com/2011/11/do-i-love-you-because-youre-beautifulor.html

:)

Well it's been a long...

month... or five - eh, more like 3, so it's not too bad... haha.  I'm sad to have to have given up on the 365 project, but as a student (at least through this year) it just hasn't been feasible... so much to do and not enough time to do it!  But I've (mostly) been having so much fun and making a point to take pictures, so it wasn't all worthless.  :)

Let's see, September... Steph and I are in South Hall this year, which is on-campus apartment style housing.  We've each got our own small room, a shared bathroom, a kitchenette, and a considerably spacious living/common room.  We're having a grand old time cooking for ourselves and hosting study parties for various classes. 



From when we got our "wands" for conducting!

 

Hosting family dinner!

This semester I am taking:
Geoscience 103 - Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and other Geologic Hazards
Conducting 2
Music History 2 - 18th/19th Century
Diction (learning how to pronounce languages correctly)
Analyzing Music

From my Geoscience Saturday field trip to Mt. Rainier... my first ever college field trip!

My performance based classes are:
Voice lessons... my junior recital with Stephanie is this April!!
Opera Workshop - performing scenes and the one-act opera Gianni Schicchi by Puccini
Choir of the West   :)
 

Soprano section at COW retreat!  Yay choir!

I spent the first half of the semester as the Music Director for Night of Musical Theatre (NOMT), which is an annual student-produced project in the Theatre department that showcases an array of musical theatre songs.  It's hard to explain beyond that, but this year we (myself, director Jack Sorensen, and choreographer Jill Heinecke) put together a loose plot based around the idea of love/the way we connect memories of love with music; we called it "Elaborate Lives" and, if I do say so myself, it was beautiful.  :)  It was a crazy up-and-down process, full of learning for the three of us, as well as our amazing cast.  I was worried throughout about putting together and successfully leading the band for the show, but I chose the right people and the music was on FIRE every night!  Some of our favorite songs included "The Club" from In the Heights, "December 1963" from Jersey Boys, and "He Lives in You" (changed to "They Live in You" for show purposes) from The Lion King.  It was fun to rock out and I got a lot of practice conducting... :)

Stretches at NOMT auditions!  The one part I missed this year was not getting to dance...

I am also in HERmonic again!  I finally feel like I'm really a part of the group and I'm happy to say that our rehearsals are such a haven for me this year.  Especially when NOMT was getting frustrating.  The audition process was eye-opening and intense.  We had about 40 or more auditionees and only 4 spots we were looking to fill.  It was a long day, but we did it!  The new ladies are all super talented and bring great individual dynamics to the group and the group as a whole is really fulfilling our "sassy, brassy, and classy" motto!  Musically, we have made leaps and bounds in just these first couple of months and our new outfits are sparkly and freaking awesome!!  We are bringing the a'capella lady-power to PLU this year like never before!

Singing "And So it Goes" at our first non-PLU concert of the year - yeah sequins!  That's right!

Even though opera is technically a class, it has taken a lot of extra-curricular work and, of course, our performances have been in the evenings.  We had opening night this Thursday (November 10th) and it is a FANTASTIC show!!  The first half is called "Grand Moments in Opera" and features six well-known operatic (and one "musical theatre") scenes from shows including Falstaff (which is the one I'm in), Nabucco (chorus of the Hebrew Slaves), Lakme (The Flower Duet, which Steph is in and it is beautiful!), and Sweeny Todd (which is actually a weird sort of musical theatre-opera hybrid...).  The second half of the night is a performance of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi.  Several of the roles are double cast, creating a fairly different show for each of the four nights.  The plot of the opera is based on a briefly mentioned character in Dante's Inferno, a man (Gianni Schicchi) who takes advantage of a greedy family, rewriting their deceased relative's will to benefit them and ultimately himself.  I am singing the role of Lauretta, Schicchi's daughter, who sings the aria O mio babbino caro.  I have had soooooo much fun with this show - the casts for both the scenes and opera are made up of incredibly talented people and it has been amazing to both share this experience with my good friends in the music department and make new ones because of it.  :)  We've just got two nights left!  Then I don't know what I am going to do with all of my free time... haha...


The Thursday/Saturday cast is sad about having to lose their hands if they get caught...



Friday/Sunday cast reacting to Buoso Donati's will...  *

I am able to somehow find free time though!!  And spending time with my amazing friends has been another highlight of the year.  Steph, Lauren, Kelvin, and I are fully embracing our "family" status (established on last year's Europe tour) and make it a point to do things together, like going to the Puyallup Fair.  Steph and I also like having people over for our weekly television show viewings, especially Castle and The Big Bang Theory (although I miss BBT every week because of HERmonic rehearsal.... oh well). 

Artsy Puyallup Fair ferris wheel shot...

Waiting in line for the ferris wheel!



Kelvin got a tatoo at the fair and it was a big deal.



Steph and our wonderful friend Katie in the midst of miniature ping pong.

They weren't great at it, but they were really good at laughing about it!

Just another family night... I may or may not have made the abstract sculptures featured on Kelvin's knees.

Junior year is proving to be a lot of work, especially in discovering the art of balance between classes/homework, practicing for classes, and scheduling/practicing for extra-curriculars.  This is the first time I haven't had/gotten a job on campus, but I have come to the realization that (at least for this semester) it is really a blessing in disguise.  I am only human, and there truly are only 24 hours in a day.  But somehow (between the support of my amazing friends and probably literally by the grace of God) I am not only surviving but, between test scores and  performance reviews, succeeding.  So far, this semester is showing me that I am on the right track - I'm glad I switched majors and I'm not looking back (oh snap, she can rhyme)!  Last night in particular, before going on in my final scene of Schicchi, I felt more strongly than ever that I want to make performing my career path, or as much a part of it as possible.  There is nothing more satisfying to me than helping create great music, whether in a choir, in front of a cast/band, or onstage singing my heart out.  :)  I'm so excited to see where these passions are going to take me!

"Babbo, pieta!" (Daddy, pleeeeeease?!) - end of the aria.  :)  *

Upcoming: 

• My first paid gig at a church in Tacoma (filling in for a soprano in a choir...)  Whee!
• First HERmonic/PLUtonic concert of the year for the PLU community
• Annual PLU Christmas concerts - solo in a featured piece... :)
• Singing in Vashon Opera's Hansel and Gretel in February

I have so much to look forward to and I'm happy being busy!  Hopefully I'll be able to get better at posting now that I have a bit more time on my hands... but we've heard that before now, haven't we?... haha.

Love&Harmony,
Erin

* - taken by the wonderful Stephanie Bivins.  :)