Adventures in Detroit

This post is about a month late! Sorry for the lack of blogging! So, some of you might know that I am subbing right now as a mentor in the Detroit Civic Youth Orchestra. Basically that means that I get to drive up to Detroit every Saturday, rehearse with the orchestra, and play concerts with them. Even though it makes for a long Saturday afternoon, I am very grateful for the employment right now!

ANYWAY, I had quite the experience back in January driving to Detroit for the first time. If you know me at all, you know three things - 1. I am a terrible driver 2. I get very nervous navigating around places I'm not familiar with on my own 3. I am very paranoid and I get really scared in shady cities like Detroit. Plus on top of all that, I spent the night before googling the shadiest areas of Detroit so needless to say I was feeling pretty scared to go into the city. Luckily, everyone had been telling me that the orchestra hall is on one of the main drags of the city (Woodward) so as long as I stuck to that street and didn't wander too far, I'd be ok.

So I start on my journey and everything's going well when, about 30 min. into my drive, I'm cruising along in the left lane and see a big ol' chunk of what I thought was black snow/slush. There were cars all around me so I couldn't exactly swerve out of the way and I thought, "Oh well I'll just roll right over it, it's just snow." AU CONTRAIRE my friends this was not soft snow but some kind of rock-hard piece of...rock. I felt and heard a huge KA-CHUNK on my left front wheel and immediately my stomach flipped. I tried to stay calm and kept driving, promising myself that if I noticed anything off about the car, I'd pull over. Well, I got into Detroit, drove a little bit through the city (even the supposedly un-shady parts look SHADY) just praying that I could get to the parking garage by the orchestra hall where I knew I would be safe. I mean, I was a blonde girl driving a bright red car with Utah plates with my little GPS inside...how much more could I scream, "JUMP ME PLEASE I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I'M GOING!"

Well thank heavens I got into the parking garage safely without having to pull my car over (although I could tell something was seriously wrong with my tire), got out of my car, and discovered that my front left tire was JACKED. Totally flat. So of course the first thing I did was call Joe and tell him what happened. I unfortunately couldn't do much about it because I had to be in my rehearsal but luckily Joe was at home and in a position to take care of it. He called USAA (thank goodness we have roadside assistance) and set up a time for someone to come and change my tire after my rehearsal.

After my rehearsal, I came back out to the parking garage and expected to wait for the guy for the next half hour. Well lo and behold I hadn't been out there for two minutes when the guy called saying he was pulling into the parking garage! I hadn't even gotten to my car yet so he swung around and picked me up and we drove to my car. Now, this guy was a CHARACTER. Big black guy, big smile, named Larrance (pronounced Luh-rahnce). He was the nicest guy EVER...kept calling me "Miss Katie." Here are a few of my favorite excerpts from our conversation:

"Well thanks for coming and helping me Larrance, I just moved to Michigan a few months ago so I'm not too familiar with the area."

"Oh, really? Do you like it here, Miss Katie?"

"Yeah, we love it, it's great!"

"REALLY?!?"

"Larrance, how much should I drive on this spare tire? My husband told me I shouldn't drive too fast on it."

"Miss Katie, do you know what kind of tires they used on the original Model T Fords?"

"Umm...not sure?"

"BICYCLE TIRES! I mean seriously, they were drivin' around on bike tires on those things and they were just FINE! So you'll be fine on this tire here, Miss Katie, don't worry about goin' too fast or anything like that."

And my personal favorite...

"Man it sure is cold out here, Larrance!"

"I know...it is so cold it makes me want to SHOUT!"

Anyway, I was very very grateful that I got my tire taken care of and that Larrance was so nice to me when I was feeling pretty scared and vulnerable. After he got the tire replaced, he drove off and I swung around to leave the parking garage. I was not looking forward to paying the seven bucks it cost to park there, but in my panic to take care of my tire, I didn't pick up a Civic Orchestra parking pass. I figured it was worth the money to park somewhere safe and not have to park on a creepy side street. So I pulled up to the booth, scrambled around in my wallet for cash, and the lady at the window said, "Hey you know what, don't worry about paying, sweetheart! My shift's about to end and I am just done for the day! You go along now." That just MADE my day. I mean, seriously, talk about a cherry on top!

So I've decided that Detroiters are a lot nicer than people give them credit for! Of course I'm sure that there are still some very scary and creepy people in that city, but I felt very sure that I was being watched after and protected by my Heavenly Father that day. He knew that I was feeling worried and scared so he put some wonderful people in my path to help me out. And luckily none of my trips to Detroit after that have been quite so eventful!

Girly Mormony Flowery Stuff

Well you guys I think I can official get my "I'm a Mormon married person" badge now because I made a craft yesterday. Successfully (after a couple crappy ones). I am so proud of myself I just had to document it!
Sorry for the awkward self-taken picture. Joe wasn't home. But seriously, look at those cutenesses!

I also learned something else - when you bring a dessert to an Enrichment (ahem, Relief Society) Meeting, it not only needs to taste good, but it has to look good too. I brought a deeeeelicious pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting all made from scratch. Seriously, heaven in my mouth. But it ain't pretty. I brought it covered in foil in my ugly well-used and well-loved baking sheet, to find that when I pulled the foil off it took some of the frosting off with it. As I scrambled to patch it back together, I saw beautiful cake after cake being placed on to the table next to my "sweet spirit." Seriously, those things were masterpieces - we all thought they were store bought because of their very precise, beautiful frosting patterns, plus they tasted SO GOOD! My sheet cake looked like a rusty old oil tanker next to these fancy shiny speedboats. I wanted to grab my cake and hide it in the kitchen! Sigh. So note to self, next time I make a cake for Relief Society (which will probably be NEVER), I've gotta step my game up! Haha. Oh well.

New recipe!

Joe and I tried a new recipe for Halloween - stuffed pizza rolls! We got the recipe from Our Best Bites (one of my favorite food blogs). We made the chicken bacon ranch flavor and pepperoni, which we adapted from the ham and pineapple recipe on their website. The chicken bacon ranch was definitely more labor-intensive, but if you're looking for a fun/easy party food that is just a little cooler than your average party snack, the pepperoni kind was fast and easy! Both were delicious...we will definitely be making them again sometime.

Wanna hear a crazy story?

(Note the shoddily self-cut bangs. What?!?)

See this picture? That's me, circa 2007. And that girl that I'm pointing to in the picture, with the blonde hair and white shirt? That's me, circa 2006. That painting recorded an important day in Katie and Joe history that we didn't even know was important until years later. That was the day that we brushed shoulders and didn't even realize it!

Let me explain...

Once upon a time I was a sophomore at BYU on October 6, 2006. My friend Spencer, a trumpet player from my freshman ward, was leaving on his mission and he came down to Provo to say goodbye to all his friends before he left. We met up at the HFAC to reminisce and do lunch at the Cougareat (we ate chicken taco wraps at L&T - it's almost eerie how many details I remember about that day). While meeting at the HFAC, an art major stopped us and asked if he could take a picture of us looking at some artwork in the main gallery. We were going to be subjects in his painting. It was supposed to be a sort of "picture of a person looking at a picture" type of thing. Deep. So we posed for the photo and I remember trying to look very serious and concentrated (very unnatural traits for me). Anyway, we went to the Cougareat and had a grand old time remembering stories from freshman year, speculating about the future, and wondering where we'd be in two years. It was lots of fun and we parted ways back at the HFAC, with me scooting off with my bassoon to E-251 to practice just as Spencer ran into some trumpet friends.

Enter Joe. Joe was fresh, and I mean FRESH, off his mission. Like, he'd been home for 24 hours fresh. I'm not as clear on the details of his side, but he wanted to come back and visit the HFAC - get reacquainted with the place and visit his old music friends, etc. So on October 6, 2006, he was strolling by the rehearsal halls with his trumpet pals when BOOM! I said goodbye to Spencer, rounded the corner to E-251 and didn't look twice at the group of people Spencer was joining. That is when Spencer met Joe. (So strange that Spencer was leaving for his mission right as Joe was coming back.)

About six months later, a painting popped up in the HFAC - a painting of people looking at a painting. I happened upon the painting, freaked out, and took a picture. Because, who wouldn't want a picture of a painting of themselves looking at a painting? And I loved it because it reminded me of my friend Spencer and forever memorialized the last day we hung out before his mission. Little did I know that it also memorialized the first time Joe and I ever crossed paths.

Years later, sometime in the blur of 2008-2009, Joe and I figured this all out and realized we'd crossed paths the day after Joe came home from his mission and I'd said goodbye to Spencer just as Joe was meeting him. And it wasn't until now that I realized this painting will forever mark October 6, 2006 in our history.

Strange how the universe works, huh?

P.S. I don't think Spencer made it into the painting. I guess the back of his head just didn't look serious/concentrated enough!

My husband

I thought I should do a little feature on the person I love the very most in this world, so this post is dedicated to the one and only Joe! He is quite the multi-faceted human being.

He's handy:

He's musical (and looks great in a tux!):

He's a super-star athlete:

He loves being Uncle Joe:

He's smart:

He's a master chef:

He LOVES swimming:

He's funny:

He's a great friend and example:

He's romantic:

There are lots of other things I could post but I'll be done now! I am so lucky to have the greatest husband EVER. I know everyone says that, but he really is the perfect match for me. I love Joe!!!

(Aww look at us, all young and engaged. Can you guys believe that was almost 3 years ago?!?)

American's Got Talent's Jackie Evancho - A Musician's Opinion

I'm sure most of you have heard about the 10-year-old opera singer, Jackie Evancho, who is a finalist and heavy favorite to win on America's Got Talent. If you haven't, you can get caught up here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nabo1iTcA5w&feature=PlayList&p=40589F682349E4DF&index=0&playnext=1

Pretty amazing, huh? First off, I won't argue that this girl has some astounding God-given talent and she seems like a truly sweet little girl with a good heart. But as a musician (albeit one who has limited vocal knowledge) I have some concerns for her.

To start, if I were just listening to her voice on face-value, without knowing that she was ten years old, I'd rate her as OK at best. Her intonation's shaky, her vibrato's not developed, and her musicality is immature. She lacks overall finesse. BUT when you realize that she's only ten years old, it is truly amazing. My fear is that with all of the ego-stroking she's been getting from the show, she will think that she's made it to the top and doesn't need to develop her vocal/musical skills any further, which is a HUGE PROBLEM!!! Like I said before, she has some amazing raw talent, but that's the problem - it's raw. It hasn't been developed. She lacks the finesse, musicality, and maturity that all great opera singers have. All musicians have raw talent to some extent (some more than others), but to be one of the great masters you have to pay your dues. No amount of raw talent can compensate for years and years of practicing and studying music. So I'm afraid that while her success on the show is wonderful at the present, it may hurt her long-term future career as an adult because she will think she's already "made it" and doesn't need any further musical development. I just hope she's smart enough to realize that this is not the case.

My other worry is how her voice will change over the years. What will happen to it as she matures? Obviously, girls do not go through quite the dramatic voice-changes as boys do during puberty, but there are some changes nonetheless. Will her astoundingly mature vocal chords go sour in adulthood? I am no vocal expert so I can't weigh in on this, but I think it's a legitimate concern. If any vocalists read this blog, tell me your opinions - I'm curious!

But at any rate, I'm fascinated to see what path this girl's musical career will take. Will she grow and develop and become a respected opera singer in the years to come? Or is she just a flash-in-the-pan that will fade into nothingness?

Things we love about Ann Arbor:

-Our awesome big apartment! It is literally twice the size of our old one in Provo.

-Having a dishwasher and washer/dryer. The loud banging and sloshing is music to my ears.

-Our new ward. Even though we've only been there for one Sunday, everyone was so nice and welcoming. We hadn't sat down for ten seconds in the chapel and there were people lined up to introduce themselves...I have realized just how nice it is to have a network of members in a place where we know absolutely no one.

-The weather! It was a tad chilly today, but most days have been 70's and 80's, sunny, with a nice breeze. We're enjoying it while it lasts!

-No TV - well, at least, I like this one. It is so nice to come home to peace and quiet with no loud TV noises in the background.

-Our apartment complex's heated pool and hot tub. Great for late-night dips!

-Being grad students = awesome. If any of you are considering graduate degrees, DO IT! You know how everyone says college is so much better than high school? Well, grad school is so much better than your bachelor's! It is wonderful to study exactly what you want to without having to take any of those nasty GE's. In the music program, we basically get to choose whatever classes we're interested in, as long as we get in all the credits we need at the end of the two years. Other than that, you choose, and there are limitless options of what to take. It is also nice to be in small classes and get a lot of one-on-one time with professors and develop a mentor-ship with them.

-Michigan accents. You didn't know there was such a thing, either? Well, just mix a bit of Minnesota with some Upstate New York and you've got a Michigan accent!