Journey of a Displaced Texan

NEW BLOG SITE!

2010-09-11T22:12:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone,

My Blog has a brand-new site.

www.laureneuph.com

There are many new posts and lots of other fun features. Thanks for reading, and please continue to do so at the new location. This site will eventually go away.

Lauren

Indiana

2010-04-20T12:18:00.004-05:00

The Field Band has been to some great stops in Indiana this tour. One of the more unique stages was at Madison Park Church of God in Anderson. It was the biggest church I've ever seen! A beautiful facility that hosted a great crowd.

Here is our pianist, Darren, practicing before a show.

On the road, our chamber groups continue their mission of educational outreach. My brass quintet, (known as "Brass Five + 1".... I am the "+1"), was tasked with performing for an assembly of several hundred elementary school children. It is always fun to interact with little kids. They are absolutely fascinated by the instruments and all the sounds they can make.

Carmen guides student volunteers through the fundamental makeup of all brass instruments- a long tube with a mouthpiece and a bell attached. We call these contraptions "Hose Horns."

John and Jeannie perform side by side during a quintet number.

Here is a shot of James with the pack of students in the background. This was a very fun gig!

Ohio

2010-04-19T14:54:00.005-05:00

Spring Tour 2010 is in full swing! One of my favorite venues so far has been the Palace Theatre in Marion, OH. It is beautiful and the inside is a trip! Very unique statues and decor.

Here is one of our newest members, Patty, busting out some low grooves on the Contra-Bassoon. She is featured on a transcription of the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Chris manages to show off a bit when he and the Colonel have an impromptu pushup contest during a pre-concert chat.

Here we are warming up onstage before the concert begins. It's been enjoyable getting to know Ohio. I never realized it was so rural- peaceful farm towns and small communities. I have yet to try Skyline Chili... maybe this Summer when we are headed back through the area.

Spring Tour 2010- Somerset, PA

2010-04-05T22:28:00.005-05:00

The Field Band began a 33-day tour today with a concert in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

It was a great show to begin the tour because of the enthusiastic crowd. It was nice to finally perform the music we'd been rehearsing for the past few weeks.

My favorite audience member had to be the WWII vet that was wearing his old uniform to the concert! What an honor to play for veterans like him.

I didn't eat too much throughout the day, so after the concert, I was famished. There were several diners near the hotel. I went with some people to check one of them out. The waitress recommended the burgers- they have a local butcher grind the meat fresh each day. It was a great choice. Tasted very fresh and handmade, particularly when paired with sweet potato fries.

Apparently there is this stuff called Scrapple... a PA specialty where they scrape up all these leftover meat bits and char from the grill and make it into a meat-ish patty. I had to try a sample, just because it sounded so unique. I am pairing it with hot sauce in this picture. It definitely reminded me of dog food, but wasn't too bad.

SNOW!

2010-02-04T21:41:00.002-06:00

We've been getting a lot of winter weather lately! In fact, we are due to get a big gob of it tomorrow. I'll plan to stay in and hopefully get to another blog update about what has been going on lately. Lots of fun things!

Return to Blogging and Caviar

2010-01-22T11:29:00.002-06:00

Hello, world! I've been neglecting the blog due to some technical difficulties... but now I'm back and have a new camera. It's a Nikon D40, the entry level DSLR, so, I'm hoping my picture quality begins to improve as I learn to use it.

Here are a few shots of a recipe I tried last night.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Caviar-and-Salmon-Blini-Tortes-241526

These Caviar & Salmon Blini Tortes were fun to make, and look very pretty. They were very briny and rich. Personally, I wouldn't go out of my way to eat food like this, but my test subject devoured them!

I've been occupying my time working on the house lately. I've finally gotten around to painting the second floor. I'll take pictures of the actual rooms soon...

Here is a sample of the guest room. I must like green, because I match!

Geordi came back to Maryland with me after Christmas. She is her usual quirky self.

More updates soon!

Fall Tour 2009

2009-11-26T16:28:00.013-06:00

The Field Band was on the road for 40 days this Fall, touring all the way from New Mexcio back to Maryland. I left with the dead-head detail on October 8th and took a sweet road trip all the way out to Albuquerque. The remainder of the band and chorus met us five days later and we began our odyssey, returning to Fort Meade on November 21st.

This tour was very eventful for me personally, as I was featured as a soloist with the band, an absolute dream come true. Equally as memorable, I returned to North Texas for the first time since I left for Basic Training. I was able to re-unite with Dr. Bowman, my teacher, and so many wonderful friends. My solo was The Yellow Rose of Texas Variations and this first picture is of me tossing a rose into the audience, (it was hidden up my sleeve during the piece). Photo by Rob McIver.

This picture sums up what I've been doing for the last month and a half. We played thirty-six concerts across nine states in three different time zones. Below, I'll share pictures of my favorite memories.

Albuquerque was so lovely. I was able to do a short hike in the Sandia Mountains one morning and also rode the Sandia Tramway, up to 10,000 feet! I can't get enough of the mountains.

Here I am doing some pushups when the drivers found the key to the government van that I dropped outside the hotel! :)

This tour was full of great food. I was able to hit all my favorite spots in Dallas, but this little place in the middle-of-nowhere, NM was definitely a highlight. Amazing green chiles!

As we drove East through the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma, the view began to look something like this picture. The landscape is barren, but it has a sparse sort of beauty, to me.

One concert I will never forget was in Snyder, TX. The band performed in a giant coliseum and, as we began to play, dozens of bats swooped in and circled us for the entire evening. I think bats are kind of cute, but most people in the band did not share my opinion of the little concert-goers.

Performing at the University of North Texas was surreal and very special. After the show, Dr. Bowman and his wife threw a reception for Chris and me. It was fabulous to catch up and reminisce with friends.

Many of my friends chose to re-enlist while we were on this tour. This is a picture before one of the ceremonies where a large group took the oath and signed up for more Army time. I say Hooah!

When you are near Dallas, Babes Chicken is a must. Two of my very best friends from UNT and a great group of my Field Band buds enjoyed this legendary eatery one fine evening.

This year for Halloween I went as Xena: Warrior Princess. Here I am posing with Levi, our Transportation Supervisor. This costume is extra eerie because he actually was a Drill Sergeant, and it gave many of us some unpleasant flashbacks :)

I'll wrap it up with a group picture from the Field Band Halloween party. This tour was long, but full of great experiences. Now we are gearing up for Holiday concerts. As far as blogging goes, I tried to go without bringing my own internet card on this tour, and I found the hotel connection situation to be very frustrating. I plan on going back to using my aircard for the next big trip and will hopefully have more timely updates for future tours. Thanks for reading!

Late Summer

2009-09-13T14:22:00.013-05:00

This lovely, busy Summer is winding down, and I'm eagerly anticipating a fantastic Fall! Here are some highlights from late August through September:

After being in the Field Band for a full year, it's nice to no longer be considered a "newbie." Here I am posing with one of our brand new members, Jeannie Wiesman, at her first TUSAFB concert. This gig was our rain-plagued Alumni Concert, that turned out great, despite the weather refusing to cooperate.

Chris and I are seen here performing the Fantastic Fast-Fingered Fandango at the same concert.

One reason I love Fall so much is NFL season! I love football- but I really only watch pro, I can't get into college. Of course I love the Houston Texans, and have recently adopted the Baltimore Ravens as my new home-town team. I did live near Dallas for six years, so I cautiously support the Dallas Cowboys, although it isn't a great idea to admit it around these parts!

I really enjoyed going to a Ravens pre-season game at M&T Bank Stadium. Nice to see that famous defense in person!

I decided to challenge myself to run a 1/2 marathon in September. I didn't do a great job of sticking to a training regimen, but I still wanted to go and do what I could. It was my first big race event and it was a blast. I ran with some other Army friends, in particular, my buddy CPL Dan Ord who teaches euphonium at the Armed Forces School of Music. Here we are hamming it up after the race.

It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes to run 13.1 miles. That's not very fast running, but it was more about finishing the race and doing something I never imagined I was capable of.

I've been trying to attend more music events outside of work. This M&M joined me in viewing a live broadcast of the Barber of Seville at Nationals Stadium. It was an amazing free event. I had never experienced a full opera before, and enjoyed it immensely.

Here is a picture of the fabulous New York Voices with the Airmen of Note, the jazz component of the US Air Force Band. On September 11th they put on a stunning performance that I was so lucky to attend.

This final shot is from the Field Band's Hispanic Heritage Recital in a beautiful Benedictine church in Baltimore. I played a piece with some incredibly talented percussionists, Todd Harrison and Jeff Lopez from the Jazz Ambassadors, and the fabulous Mr. Gene Cedras.

Summer Tour Part II

2009-09-03T10:04:00.006-05:00

The Field Band's second tour this Summer was very special to me because it marked my first time to be playing as a professional in my home state of Texas! I've collected some of my favorite pictures to chronicle events....

This lovely green monstrosity of a government van was my life for four days and 1,360 miles prior to our tour. I volunteered for a duty lovingly known as "dead-head" where a group of band members and our professional truck drivers convoy with the band's equipment to the site of our first concert. Our destination was Dallas, TX. By the time the rest of the band hopped on their flight out to the Lone Star State, I had mastered the art of the CB radio, been through a 4 lb tub of twizzlers, and listened to every small town radio station in the South.

During our very first concert in Waco, I was in for a real treat when some of my family attended! This is Aunt Wanda, who is my Grandfather's sister, and her daughter, Vicky. They own a Mexican restaurant called "La Fiesta." I highly recommend you try it if you ever find yourself in Waco, TX. We went there for dinner and drinks after the concert and it was amazing. You can't get Mexican food like that up North!

I might be a little biased, but Texas audiences really are the best! We were greeted by many packed houses, such as this one. I loved the enthusiasm for the Army and our show that was present every night!

Our performance in San Antonio at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention was very surreal for me. Only a few years ago I sat on the same stage as a college student, and prior to that, a high school kid at All-state. To be back and playing for many of my teachers and mentors was a dream come true. Check out this monster audience! How could you not love to play for that?

This is John Ware, my private lesson teacher all through middle and high school. He is one of my heros and definitely a big reason I am playing the euphonium for a living today.

Another huge influence on me as a young musician was Wendy Marquart, or "Ms. M," my high school band director. She is an incredible teacher and did so much for me. I am very lucky to have somebody like her in my life!

My favorite concert of this tour had to be when I got the chance to return to my home turf and play for my family. Our concert in The Woodlands is very near to where I grew up. So many friends family members made the trip to see me play. It was truly overwhelming! My parents hadn't seen me play in a band since high school. Being able to come back to Texas and perform with the Field Band was the culmination of so much hard work and support from my parents in helping me achieve my goals as a musician.

Of course, the Veronie's take any chance they can get to flock together for fun and to support one of their own. Here I am with my sister Roxanne, Sister-in-law Leatha, and niece Emma.

I was so appreciative of my brother Tommy making it out for the show. He had open-heart surgery just a week and a half before! Can you believe it? Doesn't look like it! He has those good Veronie genes :)

My dear friends from High School, Jonathan Martenson and Leslie Daniel, were also in attendance. We had a great time hanging out and catching up after the concert.

The remainder of the tour went by quickly. Here is Chris staring in horror at the green slime that accumulated on his valve... looks like it is time to give the euphonium a post-tour

bath!

One final picture is from Hot Springs, Arkansas where I enjoyed a phenomenal breakfast as the Colonial Pancake and Waffle House. Highly recommended!

Vacation in Colorado

2009-08-01T12:03:00.010-05:00

I spent my summer leave days in Colorado and Texas visiting with friends and family. It was a fantastic trip. Colorado is incredible in the Summer and we took full advantage of all the fun outdoor activities.

This picture is from our very memorable hike at Greyrock, near Fort Collins. It was quite an adventure getting to the top. We lost the trail near the end, did some exciting boulder scrambles, and then got to take in this magnificent view from the summit. There is a little frog pond at the top that was so serene and lovely.

Here I am goofing around on the trail. We came upon all kinds of wildlife and wildflowers.

One day we went in to Denver for a Rockies game. They came back in the final inning to beat the Atlanta Braves.

At the Loveland Sculpture Garden there were many creative photo opportunities with the artwork.

Fort Collins has a very unique sculpture park called the Swetland Zoo. A farmer took the time to create amazing pieces with metal and other scraps. The entire display is so imaginative and really makes you smile. This was one of my favorites.

This is a picture of Greyrock from the meadow that lies at its base.

We hiked for several hours just to get to this point. Looking at it now, it is hard to imagine that we were able to make it to the top. So much fun!

Another great thing about Colorado is the generous amount of breweries. Here I am about to enjoy one of the samplers at O'Dell's.

The other hike we tackled was a smaller trail called Arthur's Rock.

It was a chance to see Colorado wildflowers at their best. The hills were covered in so many beautiful colors and shapes.

Here is a picture from the top of Arthur's Rock. It was a little cloudy but the view was great. Wish I had my horn and could blow a few notes from the top!

Summer Tour Part I

2009-07-30T08:58:00.009-05:00

The Field Band is on the road for two 8-day tours this Summer. The first was in late June leading up to the 4th of July. I'm posting a few pictures that highlight our adventures.

This first is from the Independence Day concert in Pittsburgh, PA. It was my first visit to the city and I was so impressed. It really is beautiful. Our performance was held on a stage by the river downtown with the Soldier's Chorus singing behind us on a Corps of Engineers Barge! That was a very interesting set up. You can see the people lounging on the green in front of the stage. It was a massive crowd.

This photo was taken from the barge. I'm trying to put on an intimidating face with Rob and Chris. Another cool thing about this gig is that they opened up the Steeler's stadium for the masses to walk through. Pretty cool arena.

This was from an outdoor concert in Boardman, Ohio. We have been very lucky to have nice weather. Not too hot, and no big storm scares either. It was a fabulous show on July 3rd. The crowd was great and we were treated to a lovely fireworks display after.

In the small town of Clearfield, Pennsylvania the band heard tell of a local joint called Denny's Beer Barrel Pub that boasted of having the World's Largest Burger. This wasn't their biggest meat monstrosity by any means, but one of their smaller challenges. If the contestant can manage to eat the entire burger in an hour they get 1/2 off and a free shirt. One of our very hungry soldiers attempted to step up to the plate on this challenge. It was 2 pounds of beef... after it had been cooked and then was adorned in an unholy amount of toppings. He fought bravely but in the end could not quite eat the entire thing. One of my favorite memories of this tour!

This is from a concert in New York that was held at a large outdoor arena. The audience is sitting fairly far away in these viewing stands.

The American Legion was gracious as usual and willing to pose for a picture with me.

After we completed this tour, the band had some open leave days available and I hit the road again to Colorado and Texas for a fun vacation. The next post will follow that trip...

Lance's Wedding

2009-07-11T12:34:00.003-05:00

I've been the worst blogger ever. I will attempt to catch my readers up on the past few months over the course of several posts. One of the most important recent events was my brother's wedding. I was able to get leave and fly down to Texas for the ceremony on June 27th. I'll always remember their anniversary because it is two days after my birthday. Speaking of my 25th birthday.... it was much better than 24. This time last year I was in the middle of Red Phase in Basic Training and probably getting smoked most of the day. This time around I got to be with my family and celebrate my brother's big day!

The wedding was held on a boat that runs off the Gulf of Mexico in the town of Kemah. It was gorgeous and very special. My new sister-in-law is beautiful and fantastic- such a great addition to the family. The only bad thing is that her name is also Lauren..... so there are now two "Lauren Veronie's." A little confusing, but we will manage. Here I am enjoying a drink with my Dad while we are cruising around the Gulf.

The whole Veronie clan turned out for the event. This picture is just a few, including Dad, my sister Roxanne, brother Tommy, and sister-in-law Becky.

Here I am posing with my little brother, the LT. I'm so proud of him!

Orioles and the House

2009-06-15T19:20:00.012-05:00

Life has been busy as ever. Most of my free time has been spent working on the new house. I'm pretty sick of painting but the place is looking great. Recently we played two concerts that went over well. One was in Portsmouth, Virginia and what a beautiful location! I really enjoyed walking along the waterfront and eating at a spectacular German Beer Garden. Mmmmm I am a fan of the Belgian wheats!

This past weekend the Field Band's barbershop quartet, "Soundoff," was invited to sing the National Anthem at an Orioles game. A group of us tagged along for support and had a great time.

Camden Yards is such an historic park. Of course there was plenty of opportunity to rub elbows with the mascot down on the field!

Yeah Baltimore!!

Thought I'd add a few shots of the house now that it is starting to come together. Here is the master bedroom. I love my new duvet!

The kitchen was where I spent most of my money and attention since cooking is one of my big hobbies. I had to get rid of the white cabinets- just not my style! I love the red. The wall on the other side of kitchen, (will post more pics later), is painted a lovely green color and has a new wine rack. I had granite countertops installed and got a new stove. It is definitely my favorite room in the house and look forward to cooking up many yummy meals for friends in the future!

We are gearing up for Summer Tour and I'm pretty excited. Lots of fun gigs. I'll be blogging from the road as usual!

May Update

2009-05-27T05:54:00.005-05:00

May has been a busy month! Thought I would share some moments from the past few weeks.

First of all, Star Trek was AWESOME! I was very excited to see this film, as a longtime fan of the franchise, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here I am posing by a sweet advertisement poster.

One event that definitely kept me busy this month was performing on the Field Band's Chamber Music recital. They needed some people to flesh out the program so I hopped on board at the last minute and decided to put together a piece I had always wanted to try- "Pearls" by Roland Szentpali. It was definitely good for me to have something like this to work at. An added bonus was the opportunity to play in such a lovely sanctuary.

I've been working on lots of projects for the new house. Here I am in Pier 1 admiring an advertisement that had a euphonium in it!

I got a nice sunburn

sanding my cabinets outside. I know Summer is coming when I can't be outdoors for more than an house before I turn a mighty shade of pink.

My first big project in the house was the kitchen. Here is a picture right after I had granite installed and painted the cabinet bases. I'll have finished pics up soon!

Meghan

2009-05-26T21:22:00.005-05:00

I know I haven't blogged in a while. Things have been busy, but one thing that has been weighing on my heart is our family's deep and terrible loss of dear Meghan. I wanted to take the time to share some of my favorite memories with her.

Meg is my niece.

Here she is with her Dad, my brother Tommy, and my Dad, her Pa-Paw. Meghan and I were only about a year apart so we grew up together, part of the crazy, wonderful Veronie clan.

When we were little Meghan and her sister Paige would come visit us in the summers. We would swim for hours in the pool, pretending we were Ariel from the Little Mermaid. We spent hours on the trampoline, and could often be heard singing silly songs, such as our own arrangement of the Chili's Baby Back Rib song.

As we grew older it was fun to see each other head off to college and learn about life. I always told my friends proudly that I had a niece that was a "Miller Light Girl," and would show off the text-picture she sent me of her in her cute uniform. That job was perfect for the outgoing Meghan because, as she said, all she had to do was hand out drinks and get to talk to fun people.

Meghan was creative, energetic, wild, and always fun. She had such a beautiful voice. Every time I hear Tim McGraw's "Johnny's Daddy" I always think of her and Tommy singing together in the car. We might have been known to occasionally bust out a few Karaoke duets at holiday gatherings! :)

Meghan was the person who would always greet you at the door and hand you a glass of wine. She was hilarious, vibrant and so caring. She would do anything for her sister and I'm pretty sure she adopted my brother as her own from birth.

She was getting her teaching degree and was working with kids. She really seemed to enjoy it, I think it went perfectly with her playful spirit. Our family aches without her but is comforted and grateful for so many hilarious and warm memories. Miss you Meg! XOXOXO

Soldier's Chorus at Morgan State

2009-04-27T17:13:00.005-05:00

This weekend the Soldier's Chorus gave a fantastic concert of music by African-American composers at Baltimore's Morgan State University. The Concert was guest-conducted by renowned musician Dr. Robert Morris. It is always so great to be able to experience a performance as an audience member. Usually I am sitting in my chair right in front of the chorus when they are singing with us on tour. It was such a pleasure to hear my talented colleagues, and I feel very lucky to be able to work alongside them.

I thought I would include a few more pictures of my house! This blog entry will just have pictures of the first floor. Here is a view of the foyer and living area.

I love the big stairwell!

This is an aerial view from the top of the stairwell. The right hand side is a dining area and the living room has the bay window.

Here is the kitchen. I'm planning on getting new countertops put in and painting the cabinets before I move in. It's lots of work and planning, but I can't wait to see it all put together.

More updates with the other floors later!

House and Happenings

2009-04-20T19:57:00.010-05:00

Wanted to do a quick blog and mention some recent happenings. I'm very excited to be closing on my first home later in May. It is a three story townhouse near Ft. Meade. Now I have to get busy picking out paint colors and getting my stuff in Baltimore all packed up and ready for one final move. Here is a picture of the front of the place.

Here is a snapshot of me with my friend Tracy when we are out and about. It has been nice being home from tour and catching up on doing fun things with friends. We saw a movie about opera auditions on this night. Interesting!

On a more somber note, today we laid to rest former commander and conductor of the US Army Field Band, Colonel Finley Hamilton. I only had the opportunity to meet the Colonel a few times, but he seemed to be a very gracious man, and somebody very enthusiastic and dedicated to music and country.

The Field Band had the honor of playing music at the Colonel's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. It was a very moving experience.

Here I am in front of the "Pershing's Own" band building, where we rendezvoused before the ceremony.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-15T20:24:00.005-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit my family in Texas and Louisiana over Easter weekend. It was great to see everybody and just relax after a long tour. Here I am doing some decorating for the festivities.

One of the best parts about going home to Texas is enjoying my Dad's cooking. Here we have some friend catfish, (caught from Lake Conroe of course), shrimp, homemade hush puppies, coubion and, my favorite, lemon meringue pie!

On Good Friday we drove down to Lake Charles, Louisiana to visit with some of the family who reside in that neck of the woods.

Of course, the Veronies know how to take celebrating to the next level with a good, old-fashioned crawfish boil!

Dave pulls some fresh steaming ones off the boiler. Doesn't that look amazing?

Here I am with Dad digging in. It was a great trip and I was so happy to see all the family.

Chambersburg, PA

2009-04-05T11:41:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that Spring Tour 2009 is over! When I look back to my posts from the beginning of our journey, it seems ages ago, but really the time has flown by.

We had a very patriotic background for our final concert in Chambersburg. It was a good show and the last performance with the Field Band for several members. I'm really going to miss MSG Pat Lipphardt, who will be retiring after we return to base.

The next morning we were up and off at 0700. A short two hour ride back to Ft. Meade, quick off-load of the equipment, and we were done! The first thing I did was head to the commissary to stock up on groceries. It is so nice to be cooking at home again. This week I'll be looking at houses and traveling to Texas for Easter. Hope everybody is doing well out there. Thanks for following along on this tour adventure!

North Huntingdon, PA

2009-04-05T11:13:00.008-05:00

This was our next to last stop of tour. Getting very close to the end now! Our concert went very well and the hosts were fantastic.

Look at the amazing spread the local band boosters put out for us!

One very special audience member was a veteran who had returned from WWII in 1945 to play euphonium with the First Combat Infantry Band. This group eventually became known as the US Army Field Band! It was pretty special to think that I was standing next to the man who originally had my job, and that so many years later I was able to carry on in his footsteps.

Here I am posing with the VFW Color Guard.

These guys were lots of fun!

Warren, PA

2009-04-04T13:39:00.010-05:00

The Field Band celebrated the arrival of April by playing a concert in Warren, Pennsylvania. This was my first visit to the Keystone State!

Of course we had to pull at least one April Fools prank. The set up crew managed to distract Scott just long enough to wrap his tuba in 200 yards of saran wrap. It was quite a sight. His mouthpiece got the same treatment. Here is he is discovering the gossamered instrument.

It was pretty funny. I can't imagine how long it took to unwrap.

The euphonium student sitting in with us this night had a great old-school bell-front euphonium. I used to play on one of these beauties back in the day!

Elba, NY

2009-04-01T11:58:00.004-05:00

Tuesday night was our last performance in New York on this tour. I enjoyed the auditorium we played in. Our CSM joined us on the road and even conducted a piece on the concert. Tour is starting to wind down and everyone is getting excited about being home soon!
This is one of the high school students that sat in with the band for Washington Post. His tie cracked me up. I am quite the Star Trek fan, and just had to get a picture with him sporting this spectacular piece of USS Enterprise fashion.

New Berlin, NY

2009-04-01T11:31:00.007-05:00

We gave two performances at the Unadilla Valley Central School. The first was a very well attended Sunday matinee concert for the community. Luckily for the setup crew, we were able to leave our equipment overnight so that when we came back early the next morning, we didn't have much work to do. Monday's concert was for the students of the school, which serves several rural towns in the area. Here is a picture from the Sunday show.

After the concert we checked into our hotel. This glorious vehicular specimen was parked outside in the lot. Being a true Texan, I have been known to attend a monster truck show. It reminded me of home and I had to get a picture next to "American Thunder!"

The 0930 concert for the kids was lots of fun. The elementary aged children were seated on the floor right in front of the band and some of their dancing and singing along was really hilarious. They seemed to enjoy the music and it was a nice change of pace from our usual crowd.

At the very end of the show the Colonel invited one particularly enthusiastic boy to come conduct us on Stars and Stripes. This was totally unexpected and the kid clearly enjoyed himself!

Watertown, NY

2009-03-29T10:19:00.003-05:00

Here are few shots from our concert in Watertown. This was a special stop because it is so close to Fort Drum. There were lots of signs that it was a military town and I kept having the famous cadence that talks about 10th Mountain Division pop in my head.

Here we are in the performance hall. It's hard to believe that tour is winding down. We have about a week left. It seems like it has flown by again!

The next day we left early for an en route afternoon concert. Here I am clutching my Starbucks at a rest stop somewhere in New York.

Plattsburgh, NY

2009-03-29T10:01:00.006-05:00

The band left Burlington and ventured to the other side of Lake Champlain for a concert in the lovely town of Plattsburgh. The weather has decided to take a turn for the amazing and I thoroughly appreciate that! This concert was hosted at Clinton Community College. One of the organizations responsible for bringing us here was a Veterans organization comprised of students currently attending the college. Most of them are combat vets from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I got the chance to talk with the founder of this group, a former Marine, before the show. Pretty cool!

Plattsburgh was also a notable tour destination because the Best Western we stayed at had, hands down, the best Continental Breakfast so far.

St. Albans, VT

2009-03-27T14:17:00.010-05:00

During my time in the Field Band I've played in many basketball courts, but our concert in St. Albans was my first on a tennis court! We had a great audience who filled this huge indoor recreation center.

There were several talented students sitting in with us on Washington Post. During intermission some of them jumped in and played a trombone duet Carmen and Wes had brought along.

We had a Maintenance Day in Burlington, VT and I took the opportunity during our time off to go skiing. This was the second time in my life that I have ventured onto skis. I'm not a particularly graceful person to begin with, and I was more than apprehensive about how this experience would go.

Luckily I had such a great time. I was with a fantastic group of people who made sure to help me get accustomed to the technique. I fell so many times that I lost count, but it was total fun and by the end of the day I started getting the hang of it.

Here I am following a total face-first wipe out.

I spent a lot of time falling and getting up. It has been two days since the trip and I am STILL completely sore. It's a good sore though- being in the beautiful Vermont mountains, breathing fresh air, and getting one heck of a workout was fantastic!

The following day I was up early to perform at a local school for some enthusiastic brass students.

Sometimes we may not have the largest audiences... as you can see from this picture. But it was a fun clinic nonetheless, and hopefully they enjoyed our performance and learned some things along the way.

Laconia, NH

2009-03-24T11:39:00.007-05:00

Our performance in Laconia was cancelled, but this gave us the opportunity to break into small groups and visit different locations. My group went to a VA hospital in New Hampshire and played for a fantastic group of Veterans. They seemed to enjoy the music a great deal.

Here is a picture of the Woodwind Ambassadors answering questions after they finished their show.

That evening we were back in Concord for the night. I had dinner at Cheers with some friends and couldn't resist posing by this very Hooah sign they had.

Sanford, ME

2009-03-22T17:06:00.003-05:00

Our final performance in Maine was at a PACKED high school gym. This crowd was off the charts- I don't think I'd ever seen so many standing ovations during a concert. This picture only shows half of the audience. We were basically surrounded on three sides by swarms of people. It is great when so many folks can make it out to support us and the Army!

Here is the band's display that I am in charge of setting up every night. The final product looks fancy and put together, but it is assembled from many different parts that break down for easy transport. I will try to get a shot of it before I put it together next time.

Here I am having a little fun on the mixing board. I love our audio guys- Johnny & Howie. They both make me laugh constantly.

I've been working on my card skills this tour. Here is the lobby group that likes to get together in the evenings. One of the interesting things about touring and performing every night is figuring out how to wind down afterwards. Concerts are very high energy and it is difficult to come back to the hotel and just go to bed. Playing cards is one of the ways I've been trying to decompress.

Fairfield, ME

2009-03-21T14:02:00.003-05:00

We are now in Maine, definitely the farthest North I have ever traveled in my life! Luckily, the weather hasn't been too bad. Don't get me wrong, it is still cold, but it could be SO much worse. I'm finding Maine to be a beautiful state. The forests remind me of Texas.

Our concert in Fairfield went very well. The Adjutant General of the Maine National Guard, Major General John Libby, was an honored presence at the event. He spoke before we began the concert and I really enjoyed what he shared with the audience.

Chris and I played our solo on this concert. Here we are posing with Major Pulver, who conducts the piece. Every performance feels more comfortable and the crowds always seem to enjoy it.

Somebody on the set-up crew managed to get ahold of some plastic teeth so we had a good time fooling around with those. Here I am with Charles displaying our improved grills.

Then we snuck up on one of our awesome drivers. It took him a minute to notice that something was different. I wish you could see Scott's teeth in this picture, it was pretty funny.

Plaistow, NH

2009-03-21T13:54:00.003-05:00

I wasn't able to get any pictures from Thursday's stop in Plaistow, but we had a great concert. The hosts were absolutely marvelous. The setup crew had a homemade pasta + meatballs dinner waiting for us! On the road a good hearty meal (non ramen or PBJ) can be hard to come by. We definitely appreciated it! This was our last night staying in Lowell, MA as well. Next we are heading to the great state of Maine!

Worcester, MA

2009-03-19T13:42:00.007-05:00

Our concert in Worcester on Wednesday was a special treat because of the breathtaking Mechanics Hall. This venue was so lovely that the band even had our official photo taken on stage! Chris and I played our duet and, with the way the seats were arranged, I was able to see several audience members in the front row enjoying the piece. It's great when you can make that connection with people. Making the night even better, my friend Danny was able to come to the concert. We both grew up in Willis, TX but he now lives in Boston. Meeting up with friends on the road is the best.

A big part of what the Field Band does is educational outreach. Our chamber group, tentatively named "Brass Five," was a part of that effort on Wednesday when we went to Dracut High School to play for some awesome brass students.

We did a 45 minute performance/clinic and they really seemed to enjoy it. As you can see this quintet doesn't have your standard instrumentation. We've got two trumpets, trombone, bass trombone, and euph. It's a pretty cool sound and the group is a blast to play with!

One of the pieces we did was an arrangement of Simone Mantia's classic theme & variations piece "Auld Lang Syne." Here I am jamming out on some of the technical licks.

Andover, MA

2009-03-19T13:20:00.002-05:00

On Monday we left Providence and headed back to Massachusetts for a concert in fabulous Andover. One thing I love about this part of the country is that history just seeps from the buildings and the streets. Andover is an old and beautiful town and I love imagining it as it would have been in the 17th century.

Providence, RI

2009-03-15T21:28:00.004-05:00

The band enjoyed an extended stay in Providence, Rhode Island for the past few days. It certainly was nice to be rooted in one spot for a time, and the city was fabulous. No shortage of great pubs!

We were performing as part of the National Association for Music Education Convention. The concert went well and I was able to meet some great people. Here I am posing with a totally jammin' tuba-euph quartet that was doing a little musical panhandling outside of the hotel. These guys rocked out Spinning Wheel. I have a special place in my heart for bringing tuba-euph to the streets. Definitely been there!

We had our first Maintenance Day on Sunday and I was able to get down to Boston to catch some of the St. Patrick's Day Parade! Of course there were tons of bagpipers and other traditional Irish groups. I also loved the big VFW presence, I yelled lots of HOOAHs throughout the day.

It is many a low-brass player's dream to see a giant pint of Guinness roll down the street, and I was able to catch up to it for a little photo op.

The parade also featured several small groups that had tuba players. This guy was probably my favorite. It was a great day and definitely got me in the mood for St. Pats!

Foxboro, MA

2009-03-15T21:17:00.005-05:00

Foxboro was one of my favorite stops of tour so far. The weather was very cold but the crowd was so friendly and pumped up. Look at that huge mass of people! There were a lot of Veterans at this performance and I can't thank these heros enough for taking the time to come hear our show. We are doing a Beatles medley that seemed to go over really well on this concert. It was also fun to see all the people in New England Patriots gear. It made me get a little excited about the next NFL season.... this is the year the Houston Texans win big, I can feel it...(also, Go Ravens)!

Erika and I posed for a quick shot before the concert began.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of realizing that there is free hot pizza waiting for you at the conclusion of a long concert. We were very appreciative of the grub, as you can see from my huge smile!

Concord, NH

2009-03-12T13:00:00.012-05:00

The drive from Vermont to New Hampshire was gorgeous. It was the most picturesque winter scene I could imagine. This was my very first visit to the "Live Free or Die" state and I really enjoyed Concord. This first picture has the state's Capitol Building in the background. The whole downtown area was lovely and full of fun things to do.

Somebody at our Holiday Inn has a great sense of humor. The sign reads:

"Happy Birthday Chuck Norris!" I had to get a typical Chuck pose with it in the background.

Our concert was in a beautiful hall that was packed with excited people who came to see the show. A full and lively house always adds so much to the energy of the performance.

The set-up job for this concert was a little bit of a challenge. Everything had to be brought to the stage level using a big lift. Here are some of the crew working hard trying to get things in order.

As we left the concert I caught sight of this awesome marquis. Thank you, Concord, for a wonderful experience!

Newport, VT

2009-03-12T12:51:00.004-05:00

I was also without camera for our performance in Newport, but found it just in time to take this picture of one amazing blueberry pancake I enjoyed right before we left town. It is from the Brown Cow and was simply scrumptious!

Newport was such a pretty area and the scenery in Vermont was gorgeous. The people were so nice and enthusiastic about our concert as well!

Potsdam, NY

2009-03-11T21:16:00.003-05:00

So for the past few days I've been very upset because I thought I lost my camera. That would make updating the blog difficult, and I really did not want to have to spend the money to get another. Fortunately, I found it hidden in one of my shoes, tucked into my suitcase!

So I'm back to blogging, but I wasn't able to get any pictures from our Potsdam concert. I am putting up these two awesome shots that Rob McIver captured. I thought I would also take the opportunity to plug his site:

http://gallery.mac.com/rob.mciver

His work is absolutely amazing!! Everyone should look for him on Facebook under Robert McIver Photography.

This shot is me talking to some audience members after the show. One of the fun parts about soloing is that you get to mingle and have fun with the crowd after we are done playing.

Rome, NY

2009-03-09T12:09:00.006-05:00

Sunday was a very special matinee concert at Rome's historic Capitol Theatre. This venue was absolutely gorgeous. It made me feel like I was on an old-time Vaudeville stage. That being said, it was definitely one of the more challenging places for us to set up the band's equipment. The ramp we had to use for unloading was extremely steep and the slush on the ground made it slippery and dangerous. Of course, the crew worked together and made it happen. Here is a picture of the audience waiting to hear our show. The place was packed, including the balcony!

Things were very crowded on the stage. Here you can see Scott trying to reconcile sitting so close to the trumpets. He is probably trying to figure out how he's going to pick up his tuba without knocking something over.

Before our show there was an organist who played a great set of fun music. It definitely added to the nostalgic vibe of the theatre. It was hard to get a good picture, but the organ is actually down in the pit below the stage.

The crowd in Rome was so enthusiastic and supportive! It is starting to get colder now, and I'm getting a better taste of up-state New York. After the concert we had to get back on the road and drive all the way up around the Adirondacks to Canton, which is very close to Canada. It was a long day, but while it was still daylight the drive was beautiful. We saw deer and turkey and lovely snow-covered scenery- best viewed from the warmth of a vehicle in my opinion!

Albany, NY

2009-03-08T21:15:00.004-05:00

On Saturday we ventured to New York's distinguished capitol for an afternoon concert in "The Egg." I caught a picture of the skyline as we were driving in and you can see why that name is very fitting. It was a crazy place. Even the elevators were ovals. It was one of the more interesting buildings I have ever explored.

So for this tour I am on the setup crew. We actually ride ahead of the tour buses and set up all the equipment the band needs for every concert. I haven't gotten many pictures of it because I'm usually REALLY busy when we are setting up. First the whole crew unloads both of our big trucks. Then I help set up the risers, put out the baffles (sound shields that sit in front of percussion), set up the podium & lecturn, and then assemble our Hooah Army Strong display. This quick pictures is one of the trucks backing up into The Egg's loading dock.

The concert hall was huge (and egg-like). This is a shot from backstage. One thing about this venue that was funny to me is that all the elevators had operators. Although it seemed like all they did was just push the buttons to take us to our floors, it was nice to have somebody to help orient us in that huge building.

Sometimes there are some great props backstage. I might need this sign around day 30 of tour, but for now I'm having fun!

After the concert was over we returned to the hotel and I enjoyed a night out with some of my buds.

Pelham, NY

2009-03-08T09:14:00.014-05:00

On Friday we headed to New York and gave a performance in Pelham. This was one of my favorite concerts so far because the audience was very enthusiastic. I love looking up from playing and seeing little kids waving American flags and dancing to the music!

I had to catch up with this man, who was wearing an awesome tie with euphonium-like brass instruments on it.

The concert was held at Pelham Middle School. You know, in the Army we are all about acronyms and the Pelicans sort of have an unfortunate one. They were great hosts and the students that were featured with the band during the concert were really nice.

I love the American Legion guys! Luckily for me, they are always willing to pose for pictures.

Here I am with Chris and Scott, two of my favorite people!

I am enjoying New York so far. The people are very nice and have the best accents. The pizza's not bad either! It hasn't been as cold as I was fearing but we are heading Northward soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the good weather holds up.

Morristown, NJ

2009-03-06T23:52:00.010-06:00

Well, I'm finally on the road again! We departed early Thursday morning from Fort Meade and made our way up to New Jersey. Here I am in the first of many tour hotel rooms.

It was nice that our first stop was in a big concert hall, and the crowd was great!

Chris and I were soloing that night- here we are posing for some pictures before the show started.

I met some really fantastic people after the concert, particularly a fellow euphoniumist. Just meeting somebody who knows what the instrument is can be a rare thing!

This is what the band looks like from backstage.

New Jersey Mini-Tour

2009-03-02T23:48:00.007-06:00

Last week the Field Band went on a four day trip to New Jersey. These performances were technically our first leg of Spring Tour, but we were able to return to Ft. Meade for a week and a half before we head off on the long stretch this Thursday.

Our concert on February 19th in Medford, NJ marked the first time I had the opportunity to perform in front of the Concert Band as a soloist. Technically I was part of a duet, as you can see from the picture. My section-mate, SFC Chris Sarangoulis, and I performed "The Fantastic Fast-Fingered Fandango" by Bruce Fraser. It was thrilling, albeit a tad nerve-wracking, to stand out front with such an amazing band playing with us. What a dream come true. Sometimes I still can't believe that this is my job and that I have incredible opportunities like this! This photograph was taken by Rob McIver.

We had some time to explore so I went to New York City! I had never been to NYC before and it really is overwhelming. So much to see and do. I didn't get a lot of pictures because my camera died. Some of the fun things I got to see were Madame Toussad's Wax Museum, Central Park, Natural History Museum, Times Square, and, of course, the always fun New Jersey Transit train.

We had a particularly good docent at the Natural History Museum and I learned all kinds of interesting things about Neanderthal.

Here is my friend Tim and I at a comedy club where we caught an early evening improvised troop act. It was hilarious and a great time

Since we returned from NJ I've been packing up for the big tour, practicing, and surviving the cold.

Today it snowed so much that the base was closed and we had to stay in from work. My friends and I decided to have some fun playing around in the powdery stuff. It is still pretty foreign to me. We leave for New York on Thursday. I'll be blogging from the road and will remember to keep my camera charged!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roule!!

2009-02-24T22:03:00.002-06:00

Happy Mardi Gras! Thought I'd do a quick post with a few pictures from my first attempt at celebrating Fat Tuesday away from the South. I had quite an adventure trying to find a King Cake up here. This was the best I could manage, and it only resembled the real deal because I had the bakery lady at Giant doctor it up for me and insert the plastic baby. *sigh*
I had a few friends over and made my two favorite cajun dishes. On the left is coubion, a tomato based fish & shrimp stew. On the right is your classic chicken and sausage gumbo. I even made the roux myself, which is quite a challenge. I made a huge mess but I think it turned out alright.

I should have pictures up soon from our brief mini-tour to New Jersey!

Pre-Tour Blog

2009-02-16T22:13:00.005-06:00

I'm posting an overview of some of the more eventful activities from the past few weeks. The Field Band is about to leave on our Spring tour very soon and I plan on blogging every day from the road, if possible. I'm very excited to see how my second run at tour goes!

January 31st was a busy day for me. During the week leading up to that Saturday, the Concert Band had the incredible privilege to work under the baton of Mr. Stephen Pratt, Director of Bands at Indiana University.

Our performance was on the 31st and the experience was amazing. I am so grateful to be a part of making music at such a high level. Here I am posing for a picture with Professor Pratt. I hope I get to play under his baton again!

Earlier that day I had one of the biggest, most exciting, and nerve-wracking musical moments to date! I was invited to solo with the James Madison University Brass Band in concert at the US Army Band Tuba Euphonium Conference.

The conference is one of the most important annual professional events in my field and being asked to perform was a very exciting dream-come-true for me!

I performed Philip Sparke's "Harlequin" with the band. It was very well received and I enjoyed the performance, thought it goes by quickly when you are up there under pressure! I think the best part of it, for me, was that I got to see Dr. Brian Bowman, my long-time professor, and euphonium "Dad." I studied with Dr. Bowman for six years at North Texas and he is one of my heros. I hadn't seen him since I shipped to Basic Training in June, so being able to stand on stage in uniform and play for him was very special to me This second picture was taken at our dress rehearsal.

In other news, I've been enjoying the time at home with friends and family before this tour. My mom and brother have been able to visit twice this month! I am so proud of my brother- he has been accepted to the Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) school. He will be in training for almost another year learning how to be an officer in one of the most important fields in the Army. He leaves in about a week for Alabama to begin his training, hooah!

This picture is from Valentine's Day at the George Mason basketball homecoming. My boyfriend and I did some early-morning tailgating before we did the dinner & a movie thing. :) Check out my awesome Texas flag chair! I know how to represent.

We leave for New Jersey on Thursday to begin our tour so look for updates coming soon!

A Few Extras...

2009-02-01T15:26:00.004-06:00

Just wanted to add these two pictures taken from some news coverage of the Inaugural Parade.

Inaugural Parade & Ball

2009-01-21T16:14:00.006-06:00

I have to do a post about the excitement of the Presidential Inauguration. I've always heard about how the military bands get to take part in the parade and ceremonies, and it was thrilling to be a part of all the to-do.

My pictures are out of chronological order, but these first few are from the Western Ball, one of the official balls held in the George Washington Convention Center. My boyfriend was able to get tickets so after the parade I quickly cleaned up and we had a fun and fancy evening at this event.

The featured performer of the night was Marc Anthony.

I'd never heard him live before, and I must say, I was blown away. I've heard a lot of great salsa performers in Dallas, and his singing and band were top-notch. His show was one of the highlights of the entire day for me. Here is a picture of him singing a duet with the fabulous J. Lo.

Barack Obama was very busy on that Tuesday night. He made an appearance at all the official balls and showed up at ours around midnight.

He made a brief speech and danced with the First Lady to "At Last." It was pretty cool to see my new boss in person. The Biden's also made a cameo.

Before I got to do all this fancy stuff, I was hard at work earning that paycheck.... The Field Band had the great honor of leading the Inaugural Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't know if this picture can truly depict how FREEZING COLD I was the entire time. Even with layers on under my uniform, the cold was simply brutal. We all managed to survive, although my low quarter shoes somehow developed a huge gaping crack on the top and will need to be retired.

So from my 3:00am wakeup until I finally fell asleep sometime after 1:00am, it was a long and eventful day. Definitely one full of memories... just another adventure I'm having in my new life up here in DC!

January Moments

2009-01-16T22:02:00.007-06:00

This month has been pretty exciting. As soon as I returned from leave it was right back to work, getting ready for the Presidential Inauguration. We have been braving some freezing weather so that Barack can have some tasty Army jams. It is very exciting to be a part of such an historical moment and I can't wait to see the huge crowds lined up down Constitution Ave!

This weekend my mom, brother and brother's fiancee came to visit. We went into DC to see some of the monuments. Of course they decided to visit when it was 9 degrees outside, but we had a good time anyway. Here we are in front of the Texas section of the World War II Memorial. I think this is my second favorite memorial, with the Korean War Memorial probably being my No. 1 pick.

Earlier in the week some of my friends and I had a Ladies Night out on the town in Baltimore. Here we are at the famous eatery Bertha's Mussels. The seafood was excellent and we got these free bumper stickers.
In other exciting news, Geordi has finally arrived from Texas. I think she is settling in pretty well. She has already lost a few pounds of the table-scrap weight that she put on after staying with my parents for so many months! I've taken her exploring in the city a little bit and look forward to walking her even more when it warms up a bit. I'm definitely glad to have my little furry companion back!

Puerto Rico

2009-01-05T11:05:00.005-06:00

I guess I'm getting good at this Airport blogging thing! Right now I'm waiting on a flight in the San Juan airport. I've had a wonderful time in Puerto Rico but am very ready to get home.

I went to this tropical paradise to attend the wedding of a good friend, Daniel Ord. Dan is in the Army and the euphonium instructor at the Armed Forces School of Music in Virginia Beach, VA. Dan and I went to UNT together.

So this gorgeous scenery is the view from our hotel room! It was simply amazing- just like from a postcard. It was certainly nice to come from the freezing temperatures of Maryland to the 80 degree warm climate of the island.

I was traveling with my good UNT friends Scott Stone and Jamie Lipton. Here the three of us are with the bride and groom at their rehearsal dinner.

Here I am being silly on some of the beach rocks.

Holiday Wrap-Up

2008-12-30T15:32:00.010-06:00

I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport, waiting on my connecting flight to Baltimore, and thought I would do a quick post with a few last pictures from my trip home. I had such a wonderful time in Texas. I got to see all my family and several friends, and it was a nice chance to really relax.

Dad and Geordi definitely took advantage of the down time!

Of course the holidays means football! Here I am with Lance showing off our Texans pride.

They closed up an 8-8 season with a win over Chicago. (The Ravens won too)! Looking forward to the playoffs.

Here I am in the Woodlands with the fantastic Meredith Ware. Her Dad was my first euphonium teacher, and we have been friends for going on 9 years now!

I have to say that I had a lot of good food while I was home for Christmas. I tried to make up for it by doing some good PT- my brother helped me with that and I was sore for days after one workout!

Here we are eating some of Dad's skewered shrimp.

Other highlights were seafood gumbo, Dad's mouth-watering Texas BBQ, authentic Mexican, homemade apple cobbler... I could go on!
I am glad to be heading back to Maryland, but it is going to be a quick stop. I'm going to a New Years party in DC on Wednesday night, and then will be up early (and hopefully not feeling too queasy) to catch my flight to Puerto Rico the next day. I'm going to a good friend's wedding and am pretty pumped about it. I am imagining myself lying on a beach, soaking up some 80 degree weather and maybe sipping on a mojito too!

Updates on that trip soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-23T12:11:00.010-06:00

It is so wonderful to be home celebrating the holidays with my family! I'm sitting in our living room gazing at the tree, full from breakfast, with my dog resting her head on my leg. This first picture is my dad basking in the glory of the Snuggie my mom got him for Christmas. Apparently he'd been asking for one since seeing those ridiculous commercials. This made me laugh so much!

I thought I'd post some pictures of recent holiday activities that have been keeping me busy. I was invited to be a guest conductor at the Houston Tuba Christmas this year. Fortunately it was a balmy 75 degrees on the day of our performance (I miss Texas weather)!

Check out all these sousaphones! I think the crowd really enjoyed such unique sights and sounds while they were out doing holiday shopping.

Here I am with one of my mentors, the awesome Mr. Bob Daniel, retired tubist with the US Air Force Band. He was one of the coordinators of the Tuba Christmas and it was fantastic to see him and catch up.

Check out that tasty bowl of seafood gumbo! This was taken at the Veronie Family Christams Extravaganza and extra special because all of the Veronie's were able to make it this year. Starting from the top, that's my Dad, all six of his children and their spouses, all ten of his grandchildren which includes three spouses and two boyfriends, and six great-grandchildren. Add in a few extras, and that's a lot of people! It's hard for everybody to meet at the same place every year, but this year we pulled it off and it was really nice.

One of the best parts of the weekend was when my older siblings surprised my Dad with a brand new pickup truck that they got for him. He was totally overwhelmed! His old truck had something like 130,000 miles on it and was wearing out. This new one is just beautiful!

Of course I am loving being reunited with my little Geordi dog. She still remembers me and has been sleeping at my feet every night! Here she is in a ridiculous outfit that my mom got her. Gotta love the pink camo!

I'll have more holiday pics and updates later. Hope everyone is having a wonderful time this year and enjoying the season!

Chicago

2008-12-21T07:58:00.008-06:00

It's always a good feeling, as your plane is landing, for the pilot to announce that it is 5 degrees outside! On Tuesday we landed in a cold and snowy Chicago for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention.

Being invited to play at this event is a great honor

and I was very excited about our concerts. Both were very well received and so much fun to play. Look at the huge crowd! The hall was packed for both performances.

One special treat was having Colonel Gabriel, retired Commander of the US Air Force Band, lead us as a guest conducter. Colonel Gabriel is legendary. Two of my biggest mentors, Dr. Brian Bowman and Bob Daniel, were in his low brass section and I have grown up hearing about the amazing leadership of this man. I had the privilege of playing for him when I was sixteen years old at a band camp at Stephen F. Austin University in Texas. Being able to be under his baton once again was a pleasure.

Another great thing about being in Chicago was the chance to meet up with so many friends. Here I am with my ex-roommate, Jessica, one of my best friends from North Texas. I missed everyone so much, and was happy to be able to reconnect and visit.

My Brother

2008-12-16T14:50:00.009-06:00

This weekend I went to visit my "little," (he is huge!) brother in Newport News, Virginia. He is a 2nd Lieutenant and currently in transportation school at Ft. Eustis. Growing up, I never imagined that we would both end up serving in the Army, but I couldn't be more proud that our lives ended up coming together in this way.

We decided to take brother-sister pictures in uniform and frame the best shots for Mom's Christmas present. It was a fun adventure. Although we spent hours in the waiting room listening to dozens of toddlers bawl when asked to sit on Santa's lap, it was a good chance for us to visit and catch up. The funniest moment was when the photographer tried to put us into this intimate gazing pose and we were like.... "umm.... we are brother and sister, this is awkward." She definitely thought we were a couple, guess she didn't know enough about Army ranks to realize why that would have been a no-go, haha.

So I'm crossing my fingers that mom doesn't stumble across the blog before Christmas... I don't think she will, but if you are reading this mom... act surprised anyway!

My brother is my best friend and and living far apart is always tough. We had a great visit- here we are enjoying some margaritas!

We ended up driving across the famous Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which was expansive and beautiful.

It was nice to see a little bit of Virginia's Eastern Shore, and I had a great crab sandwich on the other side of the bridge before we drove back.

In other news, the Unit held its annual Holiday Party. It was really fun and there was so much good food!

Here is a picture of some of the ladies in the band all dressed up and enjoying the event.

My culinary contribution was a dual offering of Sweet Potato Casserole. The one on the left is my Grandma's version with Marshmallow topping, and the right is my Mom's with pecan and brown sugar topping. Both seemed to go over well!

So I'm in Chicago right now and tomorrow is our big performance at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Convention. Chicago is FREEZING cold and snowing but I'm totally stoked about our concerts tomorrow and exploring the exhibits.

Overdue Update

2008-12-11T15:10:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since my last post! The end of the year is always a super busy time. Here are a few pics to show some of what has been keeping me occupied lately.

I finally have my apartment looking livable! This is a quick snapshot of my living room. It's starting to feel a little bit like home but one thing's for sure, it's way more comfy to hang out in than an empty room.

I went to my first Tuba Christmas in Washington D.C. It was quite an experience!
I ran in the 5k Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis in downtown Baltimore.

We had a really good group get together for this and it was super fun. I definitely want to try more big running events.

Another cool event was the International Women in Brass annual Holiday Brass fundraiser. This took place in a huge Catholic church in Baltimore. It was a packed house and brass players form all over the area got together to perform some nice holiday music.

Up next this month, the Field Band is going to Chicago to perform at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic. I'm so excited about this because I will get to see many friends and mentors that I haven't been able to visit with much since I moved up here. I'm also pumped about our performance, I think it's going to go great. It's a dream come true to be able to perform at this convention with TUSAFB.

After Chicago, I'll be heading down to Texas for the holidays. Hopefully will have lots of fun pics to post from the rest of this month's adventures!

Unpacking

2008-11-26T11:08:00.002-06:00

It's been a busy week! Unpacking all my stuff took a really long time. It's still not completely organized, but things are starting to look better. These pictures are from when things were still just stacked up waiting to be opened. My brother came in from Ft. Eustis this weekend to help me and visit. I hadn't seen him since June so it was really great to see him.

This is my second bedroom where I had the movers stack most of the boxes. That was one daunting task to unpack.

This is the kitchen. I have much less cabinet space in this apartment than I did at the old house. I've been trying to only keep the essentials and nice things, I've got a whole stack of stuff to bring to goodwill.

On Monday several of my UNT friends were in town for a Navy Band audition. We met up in DC and I got to reunite with some old buddies.

Back Home

2008-11-18T22:22:00.005-06:00

My first tour is done and I'm back home in Baltimore! Things are good. I finally got my household goods delivered. There were a few complications with that... I'm sure nothing a few claims won't fix. It's good to have my things (esp a couch), and my apartment is finally starting to feel like home.

Here I am in front of the Capitol building in downtown DC. If I look cold it's because it's FREEZING here. It's hard to believe that I now live in a place that can just randomly snow whenever it feels like it. More updates with pictures from my put together apartment will be coming soon!

Colorado Springs, CO

2008-11-13T13:31:00.005-06:00

I love Colorado Springs, it is always one of my favorite cities to visit. Fortunately we got to stay there for two nights! This pictures is Erika and me in the super fun downtown area doing some quality shopping.

Isn't this picture of our hotel glorious? I can't imagine waking up every morning and seeing those mountains. Just makes you want to sit there with a cup of coffee and think deep thoughts. Our hotel was across the street from this really cool brew pub that had one of the best Belgian wheats I'd ever had. Yum!

One of the other awesome things about this stop was that I got to see my friend Jeff, who plays in the Air Force Academy Band. Here we are at our concert.

La Junta, CO

2008-11-12T15:32:00.005-06:00

Our first performance in Colorado was special because three of my buddies got promoted to Staff Sergeant. Erika, Tim & Kevin all got to the unit a few weeks after I did, so the four of us are the newbies. I didn't get a picture of Kevin, but here is Erika getting promoted by her section leader, (SFC Brimhall, oboe- in the right corner), and her group leader, (SGM Gould, clarinet- on the left).

This is Tim, warming up in the horn section before his promotion.

Here is a shot of the stage right after the concert. It was a cool hall with lots of alien lights.

KANSAS

2008-11-11T23:58:00.007-06:00

I know it has been a while since I've blogged. I definitely hit the mid-tour slump and things started kind of running together and I went into survival mode! :) We are getting close to coming home now and things are picking back up. Each day is still fun and brings its own adventures. Rather than blogging about each town, I'll just offer a few thoughts about our time in Kansas.

We were definitely in the "Great Plains." This was a picture snapped from my bus seat. The view stayed like this for most of the state!

I think that Kansas has one of the coolest flags, (other than the Lone Star). It is hard to see in this picture, but it is very colorful and detailed.

We played in a lot of small, rural Kansas communities. This is one gym that had a huge crowd.

One of my favorite days was in Goodland, Kansas. I did laundry in this 100 yr+ laundromat that was so nostalgic and full of character. The downtown area was mostly closed but the group I was with managed to find a fantastic little diner called "Apple Jack's." They had this amazing smoked brisket and rice soup that I am definitely going to try to recreate sometime.

One high school we played at had these signs all over the highway. TUSAFB is definitely always in the "Go Zone."

Here is another awesome gym crowd. It was a pretty packed house for how small of a town we were in!

It was nice to see a part of the country that I was almost totally unfamiliar with. It is starting to get cold, I even had to break out my long down coat. I couldn't believe how windy some of our stops were. I miss my Texas pine trees- they do a good job breaking that cold wind!

Liberty, MO

2008-11-01T23:34:00.005-05:00

We had a fantastic concert at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri. The church was huge, as you can see from the picture. It also had video capability, which means that we can play some of our tunes that have awesome and inspiring slide shows.

After this concert we had a day off in Kansas City. It was a much needed opportunity to do laundry, relax, and celebrate Halloween!

For dinner on the 31st, I went to the top-rated BBQ restaurant Jack Stack's. This was my incredible meal. Beef & pork ribs, and the best baked beans I've ever tasted!

After that we had a TUSAFB Halloween Party! Here are a few of the fun costumes. I am the hotdog on the left, if you can't tell. :) I also experienced the largest Haunted House in the US- THE BEAST!!! It was huge and exciting, I was scared the whole time.

I really enjoyed our stay in Kansas City, I look forward to coming back and doing some more exploring.

Sedalia, MO

2008-10-30T13:19:00.006-05:00

Sedalia was a nice stop. I wish I knew how to whistle in that loud way that some of our audience members do. I think my favorite things to hear after getting done with a piece is a loud and thunderous HOOAH and piercing whistles. All concerts should be fun and boisterous!

One of the pieces we play that always makes the crowd go wild is Xylophone Ragtime with soloists Brian Spurgeon and Bill Elliot. Here is the auxiliary percussion set up that Bill uses! Pretty unique.

So as I was wandering around Sedalia, I stumbled upon this beautiful sight and couldn't be believe my eyes! I really hope that gas stays this cheap for a while so I can get in on some of that action when we get back from tour.

Look at our awesome welcome billboard! Sedalia was very hospitable and we were featured on two newspaper publications! Very cool.

Trenton, MO

2008-10-29T13:14:00.005-05:00

Our performance at North Central Missouri College on Tuesday night was really enjoyable. Despite being held inside a gym, the sound was not bad at all.

Probably my favorite performance of the night was SFC Judith Norton singing Mozart's Parto Parto with SSG Marlena Burghardt soloing on clarinet. One of the cool things about touring is that you get to hear the soloists interpretations many times and in many different venues. You really get to appreciate their flexibility!

I can't wait until I get the opportunity to play in front of the band!

We were in a really interesting hotel at this stop. I don't think that I ever remember using a real jingly-jangly metal key for entry into my room. This was a very old school hotel with a Western vibe.

When walking across the street to Wal-Mart one would frequently be passed by pig trucks. They are somewhat aromatic to be sure.

Well, I am now caught up with my blogging! I'll try to stay more on top of things but it does get busy! Tonight we are performing in Sedalia, MO so I'll have updates from this evenings performance soon. Hope everyone is doing well!

Kirksville, MO

2008-10-29T09:09:00.004-05:00

This concert was at the Truman State Auditorium. I like this picture because it looks like UFO's are getting ready to abduct the bassoons. :) Our conductor, Colonel Palmatier, is a graduate of Truman State. There were lots of students in attendance, both high school and college. I participated in the evening's pre-concert talk where we answer questions and tell the audience a little bit about ourselves and our experiences in the Army. I was asked to talk about what it was like to go through Basic Combat Training! I was a little nervous speaking to the crowd, but it was a fun experience and a new way to interact with our audience members.

Hannibal, MO

2008-10-29T00:17:00.008-05:00

We played a matinee concert in Hannibal, Missouri, the boyhood home of Mark Twain and where Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn were set. We actually stayed in a hotel across the river in Quincy, Illinois. It was fun to come play in such an historic community. The Field Band works hard but likes to have a good time too. Here are a few pictures of some of the goofier moments I've experienced so far.

Barack made a cameo on Bus 2!

You never know what is going to end up in your bell if you leave your horn unattended, (it's a whiffle ball if you can't tell).

Jacksonville, IL

2008-10-28T23:43:00.006-05:00

After playing in some really beautiful halls we were back in the gym for a performance at Illinois College. Sometimes the gym crowds are really fun and inspiring, and this was definitely the case in Jacksonville. You can't tell in this picture but there were people on all three sides of us and even standing in the upstairs foyer. I particularly enjoyed the color guard from the local American Legion chapter.

Rolla, MO

2008-10-28T23:26:00.006-05:00

Wow, look at that crowd! We had an awesome concert in Rolla, which is right next to Ft. Leonard Wood. It was fun to revisit the Wal-Mart were I made my very first post-basic training stop with my parents. It is good to be back in Missouri under much better circumstances. The crowd in Rolla was great. I am very behind on my blogging so will do several short entries for each stop & try and catch up to where we are now.

O'Fallon, MO

2008-10-23T18:46:00.006-05:00

I am finally back in Missouri, my summer home for 2008. :) O'Fallon was a nice town, and the concert had one of our most enthusiastic audiences. There were many students from the local high school and it made the experience lots of fun. This is me with the O'Fallon Fire Department Honor Guard, who presented the colors at the concert. They definitely win the prize for spiffiest uniforms!

Here is Chris and Colonel Palmatier holding a pre-concert talk with the audience. These are a great chance to get to know members of the band and ask any burning questions about what we do.

We are staying in O'Fallon for two days so that our many chamber groups could go play and have master classes in local schools. My group went this morning and it was an enjoyable chance to interact with students. Tomorrow we are off to Rolla, which is right near Ft. Leonard Wood!

Carbondale, IL

2008-10-22T13:52:00.010-05:00

One of our two Illinois stops this tour was in Carbondale. It was nice to play at a university and with a packed house! The hall was very pretty too. Was also great to play again after a day off. We did the Finale from Barnes Symphony No. 3.

We rotate different marches each night, and it is kind of fun to get to know these classics intimately. This night was Fairest of the Fair, one of my favorites. I can't wait until I'm an old-timer and know every march on the face of the planet, but for now they are still challenging and fun.

So perhaps the most unique moment of the night was a post-concert trip to Buffalo Wild Wings where we happened to run into the dubious celebrity presence of none other than Ron Jeremy....

Paducah, KY

2008-10-22T11:08:00.008-05:00

We made our way back to Kentucky for one last concert in the home state of Colonel Sanders. We played in one of the best halls so far. It was three stories and gorgeous! The crowd was full and fun. Paducah was also special because we had our first "Maintenance Day" here. We generally play a concert every night for ten days and then have one day off. I spent my day off not doing anything particularly productive. I got my laundry done, ate at a nice Chinese place called Chong's, did some exploring and shopping. I found a Sonic and had my first Cherry Limeade since basic! So thank you, Paducah, for being a lovely host. Now back on the road!

Princeton, IN

2008-10-19T18:28:00.011-05:00

Life on the road is going well. Here are some pictures from our stop in Princeton, Indiana. There are two things to notice about this concert hall: #1- the layout of the seats looks like a "W," very similar to the marching band formation created every friday night by the Willis Wildkat Marching Band to the tune of March Grandioso. #2- if you look closely there is a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Princeton knows how to boogie.
This is what the bus looks like on our rides back to the hotel after concerts. Some very creative members of the band have installed Christmas lights over their seats.

Backstage at the concert I found this awesome computer terminal, that I swear looks like it came straight out of "War Games." Also note the tiger head keeping watch over the superior 80's technology.

This is an example of a typical lunch aboard the Field Band Bus. Laid out before you is a peanut butter & banana sandwich, a piece of cheese and some beef jerky. All tastefully arranged on a football napkin and placed on a euphonium gig bag table.

This is my tour roommate, Erika, who is also new to the band. She plays oboe, and watching her make reeds is fascinating!

Indianapolis, IN

2008-10-19T00:58:00.002-05:00

Saturday I ventured, for the first time, into the great state of Indiana. The weather has been magnificent- just creeping into Fall, with cool breezes and sunshine in the afternoons. We stayed in an Embassy Suites hotel again, and it was so nice. They have couches and tons of room, kitchenettes, all the good stuff! The hotel in Louisville was a bit suspect for various reasons so this was a nice upgrade. I also enjoyed the cooked to order free omelets in the morning!

Our concert was at a lovely hall and for a very nice crowd. I hear that a simultaneous Sarah Palin appearance in Indianapolis might have leeched a bit from our audience, but I thought we had a good turn out and the concert was fun to play.

Ever onward- we are going to southern Indiana next, back to Kentucky and then further West.

Lexington & Louisville, KY

2008-10-19T00:48:00.002-05:00

Well, I was trying to keep everything in order, but I'm waiting on some pictures from other sources to complete my entries on Lexington and Louisville. My camera has been acting up, but these two concerts were both especially memorable to me, so I will post pics later as I receive them.

Lexington was one of the most energetic crowds we have played for yet! The hall was nice and the people were just fantastic. It really puts something special in the performance when you feel that enthusiasm coming from the audience!

Louisville will always be memorable because I was promoted to Staff Sergeant before this concert. For those of you who pay attention to detail, I have been wearing SSG rank on my concert uniform because those patches have to be sewn on a particular way and it would be almost impossible to have it done mid-tour. So I was a Specialist in Sergeant's clothing until October 16th, when I was officially promoted. It was a good moment. I take the responsibility of how I represent the Army very seriously, and I am honored to serve at my new NCO rank.

The Louisville concert was also at this awesome downtown theatre with a really great crowd. I will have pictures from this night posted soon, but I wanted to give my run down now, so that I can get caught up on our journey!

Pikeville, KY

2008-10-17T11:10:00.003-05:00

I'm a little behind on my blogging, but I promise to have posts covering our recent stops in Lexington & Louisville soon!

Our first concert in Kentucky was at Pikeville High School. After playing in gyms and field houses for a few days, it was nice to be back in a concert hall. One of the things I enjoyed about this concert was that there were lots of young people in attendance, particularly from local band and JROTC programs. Having the opportunity to hear military bands when I was in high school certainly helped shape my interest in music.

In case anybody is curious, this is what our tour bus looks like. It also has the Army star logo on the back. Pretty sweet huh? We have done three concerts in Kentucky and are now headed to Indiana.

Parkersburg, WV

2008-10-14T08:20:00.004-05:00

Today we drove about an hour away from Charleston to Parkersburg. Okay so I know that two isn't really a pattern, but we've played in two "burgs" so far, so I'm wondering if that is a "thing" in West Virginia.

This concert was in a huge high school gym. There was a really big crowd and they were very enthusiastic. It was one of my favorite concerts that we have played so far. We got to do Bach's Toccata & Fugue and Chris nailed Pantomime.

Here is the TUSAFB euphonium section trying to look intimidating before the concert.

It was a good day overall. Had lunch with some ladies in Charleston at a really neat restaurant called First Watch. I did some walking around, got some practicing done, very relaxing. Finished an awesome book on the drive to Parkersburg, then played a fun concert. Tomorrow we are off to Kentucky!

Charleston, WV

2008-10-14T08:06:00.004-05:00

We are in the capitol of West Virginia, the fine city of Charleston. The weather has been fantastic, really warm and breezy. So far the cold I've been fearing from this trip has not been there. We will see as we drive on.

This is our hotel. It was an Embassy Suites, and was so fancy! Luckily we got to stay here for two nights. This view is looking down from my floor. They also had the best breakfast where this guy cooked you eggs or omelets anyway you liked. Yum!

Our concert Sunday night was at Charleston University. This pictures is about 30 minutes prior to downbeat while we are setting up. You can see the JROTC rehearsing for when they bring out the colors.

This little guy turned up under my bell at some point before the concert. Hmmm....

This is where he ended up :)

Clarksburg, WV

2008-10-12T12:12:00.004-05:00

Last night we played at a National Guard hall in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The Scenery is really pretty here. We are rolling down the highway right now on the tour bus and I can look out and finally see what everyone was always talking about with the beautiful Fall leaves.

This is a picture of the moon over the beautiful West Virginia hills.

We had a nice leisurely morning today. We didn't have to leave the hotel until 12:30pm so I had all morning to sleep in, work out, and get pumped up for our next exciting venue. :)

Hagerstown, MD

2008-10-11T09:08:00.003-05:00

I'm going to try really hard to blog from each stop on my inaugural tour with TUSAFB. Last night we had our first official tour performance. It was a fun concert. Chris played "Pantomime" which was awesome! So far the concerts are really fun. It is hard not to get distracted during the Armed Forces Medley because I like to look out and see all the people standing up. There are so many Navy & Army, and the Marines always look really proud and hardcore. The poor Coast Guard... there is usually at least one representative!

Here is a picture from my seat in the band looking out. I think it is going to be interesting getting to play on so many different stages. It will be a new way of listening. I think I have been spoiled by the Murchison.

After the concert we actually drove back home because the venue was only about an hour away. This morning I got up bright and early to go meet the tour buses for our big departure. I'm glad I left early because I got stuck downtown for half an hour because of the Baltimore Marathon. Some of the visual highlights were women dressed in purple with Maryland Crab Hats on, a man who was jumping rope, presumably for the entire 26 miles, and a man juggling the whole way.

So now I'm on the tour bus and on the road for the next 35 days. Who knows what adventures are in store?

Packing

2008-10-08T22:50:00.003-05:00

This week we had our final run-thrus of the four programs we perform on tour. Wednesday and Thursday we have off to conduct "tour prep." As you can imagine, there is lots of packing involved for a 36 day tour. We have a concert in Hagerstown, MD on Friday, then drive back home for the night. On Saturday the buses pull out for West Virginia and we are officially on the road! I'm pretty pumped.

Check out these sweet "packing cubes" I got to organize my suitcase. Several people in the band recommended them and I think they will be a big help. You organize all your shirts in one, pants in another, etc. That way you don't have to re-pack every time we stop for the night and there is no digging through your suitcase to find something.

We get to keep stuff on the bus at our seats. This tupperware container has all the yummy food I'm bringing so that I don't have to eat McDonalds for lunch every day.

In other extremely exciting news, I went to a local bar with the really nice people that live above me in my rowhome. They are artists- two graphic designers and a painter. They have been living in Baltimore for a long time and know much more about city life that I do! Apparently I live around three blocks down from Charm City Cakes of "Ace of Cakes" fame on the Food Network. This is one of my favorite shows. It was really cool, you could look in the windows and see all of the awesome cakes. They are super expensive, but I've decided I'm going to order one for my 30th birthday party (in 6 yrs). I'm going to have a double quinceanera and go all out!

I'm planning on updating my blog regularly while we are out on tour so that family and friends can keep up with my travels. Should be fun!

Pumpkin

2008-10-01T17:22:00.005-05:00

So I have this thing with Pumpkin. I love it. It is perhaps one of the best features of Fall. Love to eat anything containing it. Love to carve intricate designs into them & leave 'em out so long they rot and collapse into gaseous mounds & my neighbors complain. Luckily for my neighbors, one of the few downsides to my new job is that I will never be home for Halloween again for the duration of my career with TUSAFB.

I absolutely must try anything pumpkin flavored, and I thought I would share some of the items I have been indulging in lately. The latest hero of my morning coffee is this Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer that I picked up today. Also featured are Pumpkin Pie Spice Hershey Kisses, recommended by Scott. My research indicates that these can only be acquired at Target. The interesting looking stuff below is "Pumpkin Pie Fluff." I got this recipe from Scott's mom:

1 tub fat-free Cool Whip

1 can pumpkin

1 package sugar-free, fat-free instant Jello mix

1 cup milk (I use light Silk soymilk)

pumpkin pie spice to taste

You mix it all together and it is amazing. I didn't have the pie spice, and it's still delicious. A good not-too-bad-for-you Fall treat. Some recipes I have seen also have you add a package of butterscotch Jello mix, but I have never tried it that way.

I've been waiting to find one of these benches unoccupied so I could snap a picture of it. The slogan "The Greatest City in America" is pretty funny to anybody who has ever actually been to Baltimore. As a matter of fact, it is the greatest place for me right now!

Things I Miss

2008-09-28T08:26:00.004-05:00

My Mom is in town visiting this weekend and she was asking me to list things that I miss about Texas. I thought this was an interesting exercise that I might post here.

She is definitely one of them, as well as all my family! Lance (brother) will be training at Ft. Eustis in Virginia soon, so hopefully we can see each other more often then.

I miss my boyfriend! But he is coming to visit in November!

I really miss my little Geordi LaForge. Look at that face!!

I miss not having to worry about driving in the right hand lane and suddenly coming upon a row of cars just parked there.

I miss having friends who live ten minutes away. You could call them up any time, express your boredom, and have a duet partner, Wii opponent, dubious cooking tester, or just some company to enjoy.

I miss being able to rent a huge house for half the cost of a small one here.

I miss Taco Cabana, large parking lots, and SUPER WAL-MARTS!

But, to be fair, here are some things I love about my new life here in Maryland-

I love having a job. Not just any job, but THIS job. Which means that I never have to justify getting that third degree any more, now being in school means I'm just motivated instead of desperate, haha.

I love walking around the city.

I love the commissary, which is usually cheaper than Wal-Mart, and carries lots of unique items that I tend to like to cook with.

I love living so close to national monuments and so many other cool things to see and do.

Things are still settling in. Sometimes my whole life here still feels like I'm on vacation, that it's all just temporary. But I'm sure soon this will be home. I leave for my first big tour on October 10th and I'll have plenty of updates from that adventure.

First Gigs

2008-09-24T15:42:00.023-05:00

This weekend was very exciting. I had my first two performances with the Field Band, and they were both really great. The first was in Saratoga Springs, New York. I have never been to NY, apart from driving through on the Turnpike, so it was nice to see a different part of the country. Saratoga Springs reminded me a lot of Crested Butte, Colorado. Very vacation-esque, lots of shops, and overall just quaint. The concert was in a huge bandshell with an enormous and enthusiastic crowd. It was my first taste of a typical "Field Band" concert. We did this fantastic piece by Philip Sparke that was written for the band called "Weekend in New York." There were several other nice works on the program, and we did lots of things with the Soldier's Chorus. They are awesome, by the way. It is hard to count rests when you really want to listen to them! By the second half of the concert it was really cold! I'm not used to it being cold so early in the year, I had to buy a jacked just to cope! Our second half had lots of patriotic pieces. I have dreamed of being in a military band for so long- when I finally got to play the Armed Forces Salute for the first time as a member of the military it was such a cool moment.

The next day we had a once in a lifetime performance opportunity.

We were honored to play at the final game held at Yankee Stadium in New York City. You cannot imagine the crowd. So much history, so many enthusiastic fans. It was great energy and an awesome experience. These two pictures of the band marching were taken by Rob McIver, vocalist and photographer extraordinaire.

Of course, I have a long history with military marching bands... as you can see :)

Exploring New York City was an experience.

Here is one of the many fascinating individuals who adds character to the city.

Here I am in front of the empty stadium. Every seat was filled by the time we took the field!

Other than enjoying having the best job on the planet, I have been getting settled nicely in my new place in Baltimore. Here is a cool little table I got from a guy in the band, set up against my cute brick accent wall.

This is the front of my townhouse apartment. It's very Cosby Show, haha.

I've been taking long walks around the city in the afternoons trying to get to know the area. I never know what I will find. One day I ran into McGruff the crime dog...

City Girl

2008-09-10T17:54:00.014-05:00

Things have been crazy here! I have had tons of orientation stuff to do. Today I sat through hours upon hours of briefings on everything from how to use military healthcare to the civil war history of the area. But things are great, I just love my new job. I've had three rehearsals with the band so far, and it is just so fantastic. Everyone has been beyond nice, and it feels really good to be doing what I love again. I don't know if there was ever a person so excited to be playing Billy Joel medleys!

My big news is that I finally found a place to live. For the past week I've been on a major search.

Living in this area is so different from Texas. You have to pay way more money to get a much smaller place. I looked everywhere, but finally decided to go with a good deal that I found in Baltimore. I am living in the middle of the city, pretty close to Johns Hopkins University. It's going to be quite an adventure doing the whole city living thing, but I think that it will be fun and will serve me well until I can find a house that I want to buy. I'm posting a few pictures that I took when I went to view the place. I am moving in tomorrow and will post more soon!

This is the living room. It is much smaller than the house that I moved out of, so I'm really glad I left my couches! I will have a futon, my recliner, and papasan chair in here.

This is my kitchen. the living room is open to it, and the appliances are new and nice. Behind the kitchen is a little accent wall that is red brick. It's so cute and trendyish,

haha.

This is my bathroom. This is like a luxury bathroom compared to some of

the ones I looked at. Do you Denton people remember my bathroom at the Meadow Ridge house? Hahaha times have changed. :)

This is the back of the apartment. There is a little yard, but without a fence, so I'm going have to walk little Geordi. The deck is nice though, will be good for sipping coffee and such, which its not freezing cold.

So one thing I really missed during basic training was cooking. I found this awesome little cookbook on sale for $4.50 at Barnes & Noble and I can't wait to start making stuff. I have been looking forward to having my own little place and starting my life here and it being all nice and cozy and feel like I have a home again. I'll let you know how that goes. :)

I Survived

2008-09-07T20:02:00.009-05:00

On August 28th I graduated Army Basic Combat Training. It was quite an adventure. I cannot even begin to describe all of the crazy things that I did, and it definitely required me to step outside my comfort zone. When life got miserable two things really kept me going- the mail I got from family and friends, and reminding myself of what a great job was awaiting me at the end.

Here I am at graduation waiting for the ceremony to start. We look like robots, I rock the sitting attention.

Our three drill sergeants are about to march 4th platoon on to the stage.

Here I am marching up to get an award. It is simply amazing how bad people are at marching. We march everywhere we go in Basic. It is crazy how bad people's rhythm is and how hard some people find it to stay on the right foot. I do not understand how you can be screaming "LEFT LEFT LEFT RIGHT" and be stepping "RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT LEFT," haha.

This is my friend Wiley, who is from Baltimore, my new hometown. I'll have more pics of BCT friends up later when I get access to a scanner.

So this tough part is done and now I am ready to jump headfirst into my awesome job! Updates soon!

Goodbye Blog!

2008-06-15T11:53:00.012-05:00

I'm leaving today for the MEPs hotel and will be shipping off to Fort Leonard Wood tomorrow! I'm excited and ready to get this part over with! I haven't updated in a while so I will give a full run down of the past few days.

I spent my last night in Denton hanging out with my wonderful boyfriend. We went to the Greenhouse for dinner. On the way out I noticed this view of the courthouse in the distance and thought it was so pretty. Goodbye Denton!! I will miss the Mini-Mart, the Loophole & 288 traffic!

Earlier in the day Scott and I had a ceremonious final meal at Taco Bell.
That evening my brother got into town and we spent the rest of the night visiting and getting ready for my big move. Of course he is the epitome of Army Strong so he is very useful for moving large objects, such as refrigerators. The next morning Murr & Lance packed the 12 foot U-Haul to the brim. It was completely full in every nook and cranny and with stuff almost spilling out. Hopefully this is the last time my dear brother will have to move all my stuff. I owe him big time!

We set out for Willis around noon. It was a pretty smooth trip, apart from when it started to rain on the uncovered TV in the back of Lance's pickup. He stopped to cover it and locked his keys in his car. He is blaming Geordi, trying to claim she stepped on the lock when he was out.... riiiight. Either way the best part is that after trying with several failed methods, including a ROOT that he dug up from the ground, he was finally able to jimmy it open using a piece of rebar he found laying around. Nice. My brother is MacGuyver.

When I think of home, I think of tomatoes. My Grandmother and my Dad have dueling tomato gardens. They put my measly little tomatoes to shame. This is just one of the piles of tomatoes lying around the house.

It was so nice to be able to spend some time with my amazing family before I leave.

Lance is chowing down on some catfish here while mom is blissfully unaware of the awful face he is making for the camera.

Lots of my family was in town for Father's Day. This is my Dad. He is pretty ridiculously awesome. Did you know he was a Master Sergeant in the Army National Guard? Here he is eating some of the AMAZING food he cooked for us. Notice Buttercup the old fat chihuahua snuggled in his lap. Also notice his shirt. This is where I get my unreasonable love for things with crawfish printed on them.

Here he is with four of his six children. You've already met Lance, plus my brother Billy and my sister Roxie. Clearly the girls are #1.

My birthday is June 25th and since I will be spending it in Basic Training, my family did a touch of celebrating for that this weekend too. Here I am with the amazing snake cake that my aunt Pat brought over for me. A little 11-year old boy she knows made it!! It's in memory of Skeeter!
Here I am with my amazing sister Roxanne. Her husband Dave SAVED MY BUTT because they were here when Lance and I pulled up with the U-Haul. He helped us move all my stuff into my parents house and did most of the heavy lifting with Lance.

My brother Donny had the sweetest hat known to man. Camo UNT!!!

My mom wrapped my birthday present in camo... with grenade balloons, which I thought was really hilarious. Inside was one bodacious gift... CAMO FOR GEORDI!!!! She is so cute. Look at her bone camo bed!!! She loves her new collar and water bowl too. She will be staying with Mom & Dad until I get out of Basic Training and back from my first tour with the band, so I probably won't see her again until November! :(

As you can see she had a nice time schmoozing around with all of my fam.

This morning my Aunt Pat planned a Father's Day/Birthday/Going-away Breakfast. The spread was amazing and it was soo nice to have home-cooking! Look at all the cool decorations! She also made that cake in the middle!!

Well, I'm just about to leave with my Mom to head back to Dallas. It's going to be a wild adventure I'm sure. I can't wait to post some of the more interesting stories from Basic. I'm going to miss everyone lots but I'm very excited about all that is to come. Thanks for being such fantastic friends. I thought this picture of my Grandmother serenading me on my new valve trombone (best birthday gift of all time from my Murr), would be a fitting send off!

Hooah and BYE FOR NOW!

Party

2008-06-14T01:07:00.003-05:00

I'm really sleepy now so I'll be brief. I wanted to post a few of the awesome pictures from the going away part that my friends had for me last night! It was so nice to get to see everyone one last time before I leave Denton.

Busy!

2008-06-12T18:46:00.002-05:00

I've been scrambling to get all kinds of stuff done before Saturday, which is the day I'm leaving Denton. I was sooo productive today, I rocked! I bought all the stuff I need to ship out, got all the bills switched out of my name, got my hair cut and that kind of thing. Tonight I am going out with some friends to celebrate my last days in Denton. I will have a more extensive post with pics after that. I'm getting excited and ready to just throw myself into the whole basic training thing. Okay more later!

Geordi Hates W

2008-06-09T23:21:00.004-05:00

As you can see, the packing is well on its way. I should have everything out into the garage by tomorrow so that I can clean. Wednesday a lady is coming over to inspect the place and decide if I get my deposit back. I think I should be able to get most of it, but I've had back luck in the past.

I bought my first ever UNT sweatshirt. Hard to believe that after 6 years in this place that I never had one, but I do now! It is very mean green.

So earlier this year Jessica and I had a toad that was living in the back yard. Geordi kept trying to attack it so we moved it to the front yard. We hadn't seen him in months and months, but now he has made a triumphant return. He's so cute!!

In other news, my dog is deathly afraid of George W. Bush... or at least his cardboard cut-out. I inherited this fine piece of decor from Dan Ord, probably because I was the only other Republican he knew at UNT :) I found it this week when cleaning out my closet and Geordi tried to run and hide whenever she saw him. I don't know if it's his economic or foreign policies that offend her, but she kept running under the bed and hiding. Today I took down my bed frame, so she had nowhere to go.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Mac store to get my computer fixed- it keeps dying suddenly when it isn't plugged in but has a high battery charge. I'm also going to buy some other things I'll need for Basic and see my recruiter later. Keeping busy, time is flying by!! Only 6 more days of freedom left!

Garage Sale

2008-06-08T10:40:00.010-05:00

The garage sale was a success! I made exactly $200, purged many excess belongings, and met lots of very... interesting people. I had advertised the sale starting at 6:00am in the newspaper... so of course as I'm setting stuff out at 5:30am our first customer arrives. He was definitely a hardcore "saler." He left with all my Simpsons and Star Wars PEZ dispensers for 25 cents.

We actually had a fairly steady stream of customers all morning until around 12:00pm. I never knew I had so many unique neighbors! It was funny how people would take the things that I considered to be some of the junkiest items, but I had some of my nicest clothes left at the end of the day. It started sprinkling briefly, but otherwise the weather was perfect. During one of the lulls Maura and I took pictures goofing off with some of the choice items.

There were so many early professional garage sale people that most of the good stuff was gone by 7:30am. So I felt guilty the rest of the day when people would show up and look around and be like, "this is all you have?"

Marco joined us later in the morning and got in on the fun. He also made off with my big bookshelf! By 1:00pm we hadn't had a customer in a while and I was nodding off hardcore, so Maura and I packed up and then went inside and passed out power nap style.

By far the worst part of th

e day was when the front door cracked open and Geordi escaped. Maura was putting up signs down the road when she called me and said that Geordi was running around on 288!

I tried to coax her back to me with food, but every time she saw me, she got this gleeful look on her face and would run as fast as she possibly could in the opposite direction. I had to watch in horror as she ran right in to traffic across 288. Luckily all the cars stopped or avoided her and were nice about it too.

Finally she ran back into the apartment complexes near my house and when she stopped to sniff something I was able to snatch her up. I was not pleased, as you can see.

The rest of the day was great. I got to hear Jamie Lipton play a fantastic recital and hang out with friends that I won't be seeing for a long time after this week! Here is Jessica and Leah working hard on a puzzle.

MEPS

2008-06-06T17:09:00.005-05:00

Thursday I spent several hours in this place, the Denton Army Recruiting Station. Soooo much waiting around it's ridiculous, and it never ends up being for reasons that you can understand or make sense so that you sort of feel better. It is always for nothing, haha. Wasting time for wasting time's sake.

They had this brochure in the Army office, and I thought it was funny because recently I had been discussing with somebody that if I end up eventually getting a tattoo, I might get a music note filled in with camo. So there is a preview I guess! I was thinking more of an 8th note though. Definitely no treble clef- I'm not British!

Here I am in my MEPS hotel room. My roommate was nice, but liked to share... a lot.

We woke up at 4am and were shuttled over to the MEPS building from the hotel. A lady from the Red Cross had set up this nice cookie and coffee table, which was VERY nice because they won't let you sleep while you are there.

I had a minor panic moment when they announced that we wouldn't be allowed to process if we were wearing open toed shoes. Of course all I brought were flip flops. I'm sure I knew this rule at some point, but I completely forgot today. Luckily the Air Force people keep a box of old tennis shoes and new socks for such occasions. The guy was really nice but made fun of me because my huge feet actually fit really well in the men's shoes. :)

So after many hours of waiting I did my weigh in, got my contract in order, had fingerprints done, and officially swore in and joined the Army!! It was pretty exciting. The biggest news is that I got my official ship date for Basic Training. I will be leaving on June 16th for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

#1. That is really soon!!! A week from Monday!

#2 Everyone kept telling me I would likely get Ft. Jackson, SC so I am surprised to go to the Wood.

So that's the news for today. My big garage sale is tomorrow morning, so I will be up early haggling and relaxing. My friend Maura is driving up from College Station to hang out and help with things, so I'm really excited about that! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

MEPS

2008-06-05T12:33:00.002-05:00

I have to go to the recruiter at 4pm today so that I can check into the awesome MEPS hotel. There I will twiddle my thumbs and watch TV all night. Up at 4am and then off to MEPS to officially sign my contract & swear in! It will be interesting coming up with ways to entertain myself through all of the waiting around. Updates later!

Fishing

2008-06-04T18:14:00.004-05:00

Look at the beautiful flowers that my wonderful brother Don and sister-in-law Nancy sent to me! They are so sweet! I've gotten to that point in my packing where there are just little odds and ends, and none of them all fit together in one box, and I just wander around the house not accomplishing much, pushing things from one pile into another.

Oh well. I think I will be able to look at the rest of packing with a clear head once I have my awesome GARAGE SALE!!

That's right. Saturday, June 7th, get pumped for the Garage Sale of the Century. I am getting rid of a ton of stuff. Here is a litte preview picture. I am selling lots of clothes, some furniture items, random stuff. The best part is that I'll be hanging around all day, maybe even sipping a brewski- so if you are in Denton and bored, come keep me company!

Geordi had an exciting day. She got to go the vet to get microchipped. She is going to be living with my parents while I am in Basic and getting settled in MD. She has the propensity to bolt when she gets the chance, so hopefully the microchip will be a good backup that we never have to use!

So two things I saw on my walks with Geordi today reminded me that I really would love to go fishing. It is perfect weather, oh how nice it would be! Maybe Dad will take me out on the boat while I am in Willis before I leave...

Keepin' it going

2008-06-03T00:15:00.008-05:00

Today I had lots to do. In the midst of running errands up at UNT I realized that I might have walked into the Eagle Student Service Center for the last time... and waiting in those long lines to pay for an overdue parking ticket FOR THE LAST TIME!!!

I went to see my recruiter and will officially be joining the US Army on Friday... after I hurry up and wait all day at MEPS. The highlight of my recruiter visit was definitely receiving my first ever ARMY T-SHIRT!!!

In other news, my tomatoes are doing splendidly. Too bad I won't be around to eat any of them.

Murr came over and helped me do some more packing tonight. Then he got in a wrestling match with Geordi, who sorely needed the attention.

She looks pretty vicious huh? But she's a cuddly softy... most of the time. :)

Here is her scooting under the bed, which is where she hides all the loot that she steals from the living room when I'm not looking. Earlier I caught her with a giant roll of masking tape in her mouth, headed straight for the bed!

Packing

2008-06-01T19:38:00.005-05:00

Today was mostly spent packing my stuff. Geordi is so confused by everything that has been going on. She has been spending lots of time laying in her crate, which she normally never does.

I keep getting these giant piles of boxes thinking, "yeah, that should be plenty!" Yeah right. I finally scored some last night. The first guy fell through but I found another gas station to help me out. The the honorable Miss Jamie Lipton let me raid her garage which had lots of good boxes.

So I'm having a garage sale next weekend, and I'm getting rid of a ton of stuff. More on that later, but get excited!

I have so much stuff to take care of tomorrow- all the phone calls and arrangements I couldn't make over the weekend. I'm also supposed to go see my recruiter, and hopefully he will have some info for me. I started memorizing Army ranks, but there are lots of long creeds and things I need to get going on too.

More tomorrow! Bye for now!

Changes

2008-05-31T20:04:00.002-05:00

I am starting this blog so that my friends and family can see how I'm doing as I start the big adventure of finally leaving Denton, going through Basic Training, and moving to the great state of Maryland!

Here is an overview:

* I am going to join the Army on Wednesday, June 4th

* I will get a ship date that should be about 2 weeks after that

* I will spend the next few weeks moving all my stuff to Houston and practicing pushups

* I will go to Basic Training and somehow survive

* I will get out at the beginning of September and report to MD

Everything is moving so fast! It is hard to process that I will be leaving Denton and Texas! My family is going to be so far away, but I couldn't be happier about the job that I will be starting.

For my family and non-musician friends who might have questions about what I will be doing-

* No I cannot get deployed!

* I will always be stationed on the same base in MD

* I will be touring the country over 100 days a year!

* The website is http://www.army.mil/fieldband - I will be in the Concert Band

* The base is right around Annapolis, Baltimore & Washington D.C.

Today was spent exercising, packing, and being a tiny bit lazy. I feel good about everything regarding basic, except for pushups, but I'm working on it! I also went on a scavenger hunt for boxes so that I could start packing. Of the 6 gas stations I stopped at I only managed to get 4, but I have the word of the guy who works at the McKinney Fina that I will have a big load of them waiting for me at 9:30pm tonight. If he fails me then I'm hitting up the late-night WalMart. I find gas station beer boxes to be ideal for moving, they are nice and sturdy.

My Grandmother just called me to ask if they would let me wear my "scandalous thong underwears in the Army" I'm sure all of you are asking yourselves the same question, so I'll be sure that's the first thing I find out from my recruiter on Monday.