Directing A Band

I get slightly worked up when projects, particularly ones that are more of a "performance" based nature (like speeches) come along. And the biggest grade in my Directing a Band class just so happened to come from a project in which you physically direct a band in front of the class. You bring in an unfamiliar song, rhythm chart, and directions and within twenty minutes play it through to satisfaction. Then you receive a critique and a grade. Paralyzing to my soul's history of insecurity in practice type scenarios.

I went in the middle of the group, having time to watch a few classmates go, but not long enough to procrastinate and put it off.  I really appreciate the friendships I've made here... that allow me to be a bit more frantic as necessary. :o)The evening before my project, I actually made it a point to go hang out with people I hadn't seen in months, it completely settled me down because a) I spent all evening playing the "hi my name is" and "what do you do?" game and b) you can't talk about a project frantically with strangers... 

My problem is that I over analyze any prospective scenarios that could occur, and I was completely prepared.  And so as always, I slipped my shoes off, put my big girl pants on (figuratively speaking), and got up with confidence. We did Laura Story's version of "What a Savior", off the catalyst music project.  A simple enough song, so that I could accomplish it in the time allotted...actually less time allotted because we were having problems with the inner ears on the drums and had to set up another monitor so he could hear.

The only thing I really missed was asking my drummer to play a straight groove and not catching on that he was playing a funk groove by mistake... once the music is going, it fit and really...we only had one day of "lecture" on the drums and bass together. I got home to my host mom asking how I did.  I said, "An A, of course." as I walked downstairs to crash for the rest of the day. In my exhaustion I had left humility in the closet....haha... I literally slept except for classes and whatnot the next two days straight.  Definitely a good time of stretching for me!

King's Chef Diner

 This past Saturday, we started off the day right by meeting for breakfast at the King's Chef Diner, downtown in the Springs. It is a neat little hole in the wall that serves up messes of scrambled eggs and breakfast burritos with homemade green chili, the peppers locally grown down in Pueblo.

This is a cool enough place to get away with being cash only and though it was pretty calm at 8:30 when we got there...by the time we left an hour later, the place was packed and more people headed in.

 Josiah modeling what eating one of their large burritos looks like...

 Darci's plate had a bit more variety than my own did.

After we finished eating, purely based on how beautiful it is here in Colorado right now (I try not to think about the fact that winter has only given us a brief respite and spring is not on the way quite yet), we added some quarters to our meters and spent some time walking down tejon, and a couple of intersections later and I wanted a photo shoot...:o)

A normal Saturday for me is pretty lazy, sleeping in, puttering around. It was good for a change to get up and out and then feel like there were many hours left in the day in which to accomplish things!

Life is sometimes hard, but God is always good

Happy Belated Valentine's Day! Things weren't too built up for it around here, but I did get a lovely box of chocolates from my host family...and went to a white elephant gift exchange with friends I hadn't seen since October....my bad...:o)


This past week was incredibly hard.  My grandpa in southwest VA has been in and out of the hospital the past couple of months.  We got a call a week or so ago that he was back in...then Wednesday we got the call that my dad needed to come and see him. Translation: Grandpa Cox is dying and he doesn't have much time.  And so without knowing a ton of information, or knowing what was happening, I entered into prepping myself for going home for a funeral, probably not getting to say goodbye to this man I love, and praying for his comfort and healing.


My dad said to my mom, "I feel like God wants me to go see my dad, I just have to go." Which if you don't know my dad, he only became a Christian when I was a senior in college.  My heart is overflowing with gratitude that God is drawing my dad in even closer and deeper and that my dad is growing into such a strong man of God.


I'm spiderwebbing a bit in the story telling, but I'm still processing the last few days and the rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts I've experienced. As of Wednesday night, my grandpa was dying, and then I didn't know anything else until Friday evening. Dad made it down to Grundy sometime Friday morning and spent time with Grandpa.  From all looks of things, Grandpa has a laundry list of things wrong with him, from congestive heart failure and fluid in his heart to emphysema and type 2 diabetes.  But what had scared the family down there, was his deep depression and seemingly giving up the will to live.  But God sending my dad down there, was the prescriptive medicine Grandpa needed, and now the outlook isn't so grim.  There is hope on the horizon, and there is talk of Grandpa's eventual move from the hospital back to live with family.


But Wednesday through Friday was rough.  I withdrew inside myself, withdrew from community...how do you even begin to share something like that? I wasn't in mourning yet, I was in this period of prayer, supplication, and waiting.  But the one thing that happened was that I clung to God. I sang and sang and read scripture and remembered promises and sang some more.  And God was so good.  I just felt held and loved and despite the fear and anxiety there was a calmness that everything was going to work out to good.  And just picturing my dad there with grandpa, and what God has done in both those men's lives...well, He makes all things good.


I went to the Mill last night, a little hesitant to still be absorbing the news that Grandpa had improved in the company of so many people, but still desiring to worship and praise God.  One of the pastors, Daniel Grothe read psalm 112 to start the service... at this line, my friend Ruth wrapped her arm around my shoulders and just held on:


Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
   they will be remembered forever.
They will have no fear of bad news;
   their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
   in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

And so my heart is secure, ready to face the next few weeks with a vigor, eager to spend some time with a church that I love over break, hopefully see my grandpa, and really dig out what God is calling me to after this crazy year is over. God is so good.

The Golden Bee

The Golden Bee...a delightful English pub that was torn apart, shipped to Colorado, and reassembled inside the Broadmoor International Center. It is a nightly piano bar, open for dinner with singing at 8:30. Darci and I went a few months ago and while we didn't partake in the yards of beer available with their own hip height stands, we did eat pretty tasty fish and chips.

I love interactive experiences like this...the waitress flicks little sticker "bees" on you when she first welcomes you and takes your drink order, being that it was our first time, we ended up wearing a surplus of the little guys.  We had plenty of time to eat before the song books were passed out and the guy takes to the piano bench.  People are welcome to make requests from the book, but in lieu, the piano player calls out a number and the singing commences with a blend of folk, oldies, and a few more current hits...my favorites were anything by the beatles and margaritaville...:o)

We went on a Monday so it was a bit quieter, which gave Dars and I some time to chat and just take in the scenery...I definitely want to go back on a weekend night...I've heard several people say it gets loud and busy!

First Fridays: Santa Fe Art Walk

Even in the bitter cold of winter, the first Friday of the month brings a culturally and artistically stimulating evening of an art walk in the Santa Fe Art District in Denver. Crystal and I found ourselves meandering in and out of galleries and working studios looking at various media forms and artistic expressions. The first gallery we entered was dimly lit and outfitted to be an underwater odyssey complete with paper mache and fabric creatures and a woman in the middle dressed as an octopus.

In my opinion the most worthwhile galleries were located either up or down a flight of stairs...maybe because you had to figure out whether the "Closed" sign as the name of the gallery or if in fact it was closed (it was the name of a gallery which was open :o). But we heard tales of ghosts in one attic working studio, and pattered about paleontology in a basement.

I love art...I know almost less than nothing about it, but I do know in college my artistic friends would always prance down the hall to hear my squeals of delight at whatever they had created...which was always awesome and far beyond my own capabilities.  Enticed by one sign that claimed an interactive gallery, we luckily read the small print that explained a nude portrait in session before passing the curtain....a little too artistic for our tastes... :o)

The night also brought it's own cast of characters.  I seem to have some sort of special superhero power that lets people know they can ask me things, or make remarks.  We stepped in to one little gallery thinking that something cool was inside purely based on the number of people crammed in. Upon working our way through the crowd, we realized it was only some sort of fundraiser and so we tried to slip back out. Crystal made it out, but I was caught in a discussion of the popularity of poetry in America.  A slightly inebriated fellow was trying to explain to his European friend that poetry wasn't popular, but unfortunately any question he asked me was not prefaced by this and I only proved to undermine his points.  Sorry that I like poetry and can name contemporary poets???

Walking down Santa Fe, I was introduced to Capoeira, a brazilian combination of martial arts, dance, gymnastic moves.  Really it looks like two people cartwheeling in slow motion around each other, while other people sing call and response songs to the beat of a drum.  Fascinating to watch, but not on my list of things to do anytime soon.

The only other offbeat thing to happen was in one of our last galleries to visit. A guy came literally running over to us to say to me, "Your hair is AMAZING! That's your compliment of the night." He then noticed Crystal beside me and said to her, "I mean your hair is all right, but," as he turned back to me, "Yours is amazing!" It reminds me of the time I was walking the streets of DC to grab coffee from Starbucks when a man nonchalantly passed by to say, "Hey, nice assortment of mini clips."

This was brilliance....mozarella sticks ON a grilled cheese sandwich paired with onion rings for ONLY $4!  Denny's is late night magic in Denver, and while I can safely say I will never order this again....it was amazingness to eat.

This was only my third time to Denver. Not sure why I haven't made an effort to take more trips up there...oh wait, I like to do things that are free...:o)

Packages From Home

I have to be really honest....there is not much more exciting than getting an unexpected box in the mail.  It's brown paper magic and when you know that it's not a new book for class and you recognize the handwriting on the outside...how perfect! This package is way back from Halloween, but with the recent emergence of birthday cards and flowers and such...well, I just want to celebrate reminders of love!

Ice on the Avenue

Wow, three posts in three days, I may actually be getting back into the swing of the blogging world.  A couple of weekends ago, it was Ice on the Avenue, in Old Colorado City and loving any chance to walk around the quaint street, I rounded up a few people to play among ice sculptures and festive atmosphere.  There was even a little gold panning station set up to try your hand at finding some gold flecks...I have as of now given up on it being my back up plan...too hard!

So the whole premise of Ice on the Avenue is that they hire an ice carver and he works his way up and down the street leaving sculptures in various places along the road.  This meant it was more of a treasure hunt to find the pieces and there was a crowd at his current location watching and waiting to see what was about to emerge from the ice.

Already in place by the time of our arrival, was an ice stand outside of the ice cream shop...so we all leaned in for a pic!

Oh no! Ryan what did you do!!!??!? Kodak moment with a found piece of broken ice tossed to the side.

After walking up and down the street and a convenient stop in yobel market, we stopped in the little French bakery and I had a scrumptious cinnamon baguette...delicious!

After getting yelled at for being too loud in the library (I seem to be running into a habit of being too loud these days :o), we found the ice checkers board abandoned by all the destructive children from earlier in the day and salvaged a few of the larger pieces to play a four on four game of checkers...which sadly had to end in a truce when we both moved around two kings each, both unwilling to give up the game. That and the addition of a sketchy guy offering his advice on our next moves, kind of put a damper on the already late chill.

Pizza and a movie back in Briargate rounded out a beautiful and for the most part, warm Saturday... loved it!

My Birthday Week!

Twenty Seven years old. It's a big birthday, on the decline of my mid-twenties and closing the gap quickly to the big 3-0.... Good thing the Quinns, our School of Worship family from Ireland, helped create a Colorado version of a Castle Cake with a birthday lunch the day before.  I love this family dearly, and to have a mini birthday party on a Sunday afternoon...perfection! Of course, Josh had to have his cake with candles as well... he prefers to pretend it's his birthday as well.

Little Jonah, actually not getting into trouble for once....completely occupied with a keyboard that isn't even turned on.

So the birthday celebrating began on Sunday with the Quinn's, followed up Sunday night by dinner out with Mary at Biaggi's, a very awesome Italian place, swing dancing at the VFW with Crystal, and then on into my actual birthday on Monday.

There is something so special about just waking up and knowing its your birthday. A day devoted to you, where nothing should go wrong, but even if it does, well, it's your birthday. Do what you want. I still had classes and voice lessons, but I did score some super cheap sewing magazines at the book sale at the library and came home to Mary baking me a cake!

Also, in addition to cards from family, my sister sent me flowers!!!! First time I've ever gotten flowers sent to me, and they are absolutely amazing... the roses have opened up the past couple of days and every time I walk into my room, they make me smile.

Haha....I didn't rotate the pictures before uploading...oh well, a little rustic and endearing. My birthday ended with skyping family and eating dinner with several friends at Outback. I HAD to have steak!!! So much celebrating left me tired come Tuesday morning, but nonetheless, it has been a terrific week and I will claim birthday happiness as long as possible!

Learning to Sew

 What I absolutely adore about my time in Colorado, is that as soon as I want to learn something, there's totally someone around to teach me! Fellow School of Worship Student, Kia, had a sweet laptop bag that her sister had made for her.  When I saw it, I proposed a day of sewing lessons.  Kia kindly agreed and last Friday afternoon found me in her home, complete with quilting frames, spinning wheels, lots of homeschooled children, and a homey, welcoming atmosphere to learn in.

 I cannot lie...I did take home ec in 8th grade, but since then, well, nothing was retained except a faint memory of plaid boxer shorts that didn't fit right, but looked pretty cool. So I watched in awe at the process of loading the bobbin, threading the machine, and trying to keep a steady pressure on the foot pedal....which for me is more a process of not freaking out when too much pressure is applied...exceptionally hard for me.

I picked up a couple of yards of polka print and a pattern for a very simple bag. Funny, I don't have a picture of the finished product, but before I sewed the bottom shut, I did have the brilliant idea for Kia to wear it as a tank top...I definitely have potential in the fashion industry. :o) Due to my social nature and love of chatting and ability to break a sewing machine, the project we started at 3 pm wasn't finished till close to 8...but hey, we did take a break to eat some homemade chili and cinnamon rolls...perfection!  I am totally going to get into this sewing business, expect a bag as a present when your birthday rolls around!