Flower Drawings

I LOVE to draw!!! Music and art are my two favorite things. When I have spare time I draw and listen to music. What am I talking about?! I never have spare time!!! Well, I guess I make time every once in a while.

Anyway, here are two flowers that I drew over the summer. I don't know why I haven't put them on here already, but here they are!

Oh wait! One more thing! I have drawn three different flowers, but I cannot find the third one I drew. I will put it up as soon as I find it, but here are the first two...

This is a pansy that I drew on a piece of lined paper. At first, I was just randomly doodling and did not think that it would turn into something. Now I wish I would have drawn it on a blank piece of paper :( Oh, well...

Here is the other one. This one is of my favorite kind of flower, an iris. I have always loved irises because I love the shape of them and their smell. There are tons of irises around campus at my school and I have admired them from the time I was in preschool to now. We also have a bunch of irises growing in our front and back yards. They are a cool flower and I really enjoyed drawing it!!!

By the way, I used a pencil and eraser to sketch these and then I used colored pencils to color them in. They took about 2-3 hours each. Hope you like them! :)

I Can Hear the Wedding Bells

For months and months my friends and I have been waiting for our English teacher to come in and tell us that her boyfriend proposed, but it just would not happen! We got back from a nice, long weekend yesterday, and when we got to school, we heard that she was engaged!!!! :) We immediately started screaming out of excitement and were SOOO happy for her! We went of to math class, but we had English after that. We ran into the room and gave her a huge hug and asked her to show us her ring. It is a gorgeous ring with a big amethyst in the middle. It was all great and we eagerly listened to the story of the proposal for the first part of class. It was so exciting!!! Some of the boys even wrote down what they thought she should do for the wedding and her honeymoon (joking, of course). It was a great start to the week and I am extremely happy for her!


http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/wedding-bells.shtml

Soccer in the Rain

I don't know what it is about the fresh, crisp smell rain brings, but it always brings me back to when my friends and I were really little, playing soccer games in the rain together. We would intentionally dribble the ball into the muddy patches, hoping that we would get some mud splashed up onto us and make the perfectly clean, white soccer ball muddy. After the game was over, our parents would try to drag us away so they could get out of the rain. Then we would try to convince them to let us stay a few minutes longer so we could play in the mud some more. They would either let us stay for a couple minutes because they were drenched anyway, or they would say they would be in the car and to come in five minutes. Then, we would slip into each other while trying to get to the ball first and make each other fall into the mud piles. We would be so muddy by the end of it, but what little kid doesn't like to get really muddy?

Yesterday, we had soccer practice in the rain! It was a cloudy and overcast day, but it was still pretty warm outside. We were running some drills and practicing our corner kicks, when I felt a small droplet of rain fall onto my arm. There were two or three more drops that landed on me. Then, everyone started to feel drops hit them. Gradually, the droplets got larger in size and in number and within a couple minutes, it was raining a pretty significant amount. But we didn't care! In fact, we absolutely loved it!!!We were out there in our cleats and shin guards getting muddy and slipping and sliding all over the place!!! I turned to my friend and said, "Aren't soccer and rain the perfect combination?" She agreed and we both looked at each other and then started playing in the mud... Haha... I guess some things just never change! :)

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/943263

Spring

Spring, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful times of the year. I love all of the gorgeous flowers that pop up everywhere and the song birds that sing their songs in the morning. Spring has definitely sprung around my neighborhood. Here are some pictures...

Jazz Festival

This morning, our school jazz band went to go perform in the Metro State Jazz Celebration Festival. We played Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Take Five for the two judges. After we finished our performance, the judges talked a little bit and then started to give us tips. They showed us how to play around with the beat and rhythem and how to do improvisation. It was SO COOL!!! They gave us so many tips and hints that made us sound amazing! It was a great learning experience and I had sooooo much fun!!! :)
This is a picture of my dream flute... It is an open-hole Gemeinhardt with a low B foot and an offset G... :)

The Power of Music

On Sunday, March 27th, the choir and I sang You Raise Me Up (with Be Still My Soul) arranged by Tom Fettke. I played that song on the flute a few years ago and liked it a lot then. When our director told us that we were singing it, I was really excited! We practiced it numerous times and then, on Sunday, we finally performed it in front of the congregation. It was then that I realized how incredibly powerful music is to me...

We were standing up in the choir loft, and the congregation was eagerly staring at us, waiting for us to begin. Then, the pianist began to play and we started out the song by singing Be Still My Soul. We sang that part perfectly and the pianist started to make the transition into You Raise Me Up. As we started to sing the first few words, something happened. I got goose bumps, even though I wasn't cold, and my hands started to shake, even though I wasn't nervous. Once we got to the chorus, all of these unusual feelings got twice as strong! Then, the light started to stream in from the stained- glass windows and I felt like the heavens were telling us they could hear our song and were thanking us. That's when I realized how powerful that song and music in general was. It was AMAZING!!!

So now that is, by far, my favorite Christian church song. Here are the lyrics to the version of the song we sang. Read them and I am almost sure that everyone will know what I am talking about. The words are so powerful and I feel like everyone can relate to them in some way...

Be still my soul, the Lord is on your side
Bare paciently, the cross of grief or pain
Leave to your God, to order and provide
In ev'ry change, he faithful will remain

Be still my soul, the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled, them while he dwelt below
...
When I am down, and oh my soul so weary
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be
Then I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit a while with me
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when, I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up, to more than I can be
There is no life, no life without its hunger
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly
But when you come, and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes I think I glimpse eternity

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seasI am strong when I am on Your shoulders
You raise me up, to more than I can be
(key change)

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on Your shoulders (Your shoulders)
You raise me up, You raise me up, You raise me up, to more than I can be