My friend Paige posted a list on
her cute blog of the top ten things she is most excited for this summer. I am going to copy her because her list got me thinking about my summer...
In no particular order...
1) Two of my best friends, Josh and Jenna, are getting married in a week and a half! Josh is Phil's childhood (and adulthood for that matter) best friend and I met Jenna on a study abroad to Vienna 5 years ago. They are a wonderful couple and I am so excited for their wedding. They really are perfect for each other. And I get to be a bridesmaid! I will be so sad when they move. I will miss them and being able to see them whenever we want. Here are a couple great pictures of them. I really do only have silly pictures of them, proof of how fun they are! After the ghost picture is one of Reuben (Phil's brother), Josh, and Phil when they were little. This picture is so cute!
2) Going to Yosemite and backpacking with Phil. Don't worry he has already been looking at maps. I love that about him. We will drive from Yosemite to San Francisco to meet my niece Elise and spend time with my family (which will also include my little brother Brennan who gets back from his mission in a month!!). I love this picture of Elise:
3) GOING TO CHINA!!!!! I play in the BYU Chamber Orchestra and we are spending 2 weeks on tour. I am then meeting up with my dad in Hong Kong for a few days.
4) Running! We all know it is impossible to go to college full time and have any sort of regular exercise. I swear I tried but to no avail. I have a couple races to train for. I am excited.
5) Gardening. Last summer we had a pretty successful garden, especially for our first try. The rhubarb and strawberry plants have already returned to life! I haven't made any concrete decisions about what to plant. Our wonderful landlords cleared and rototilled some more earth for us. The possibilities are endless! Here are some pics from last year. The bottom picture shows how we didn't have room for what we planted so it grew through our fence into the no man's land that separates us from the delightful and potent Del Taco.
Hopefully Del Taco doesn't ruin this for me. I love hanging our clothes to dry, but I am afraid they are going to smell like shrimp tacos in a bad way greasy fair food way:
6) Having time to become a better reed maker. I make oboe reeds. A lot. During the semester I make them because I have at least 3 hours of rehearsal and 4 hours of practicing a day. I go through a lot of reeds. With less rehearsals during the summer I will be able to be more relaxed as I make them.
7) Learn new repertoire. There are many pieces I want to learn and techniques I want to improve and master. I love the oboe.
8) Cooking. Food is good. Especially good food.
9) Enjoying the beauties of Utah while we can. We will be moving from Utah a year from now and there are so many places we want to climb and camp at before we leave. There are also a lot of people we will miss when we move and we need to spend time with them.
10) Spending AMTAP (As Much Time As Possible) with Phil. This belongs at the top of the list (if were in a particular order, which it isn't). We will be apart this summer more than I want to be. Thanks to the DAT (which Phil is going to rock) Phil can't join my dad and I in Hong Kong. Meaning we will be apart for about a month out of this summer. It will be really hard and makes my heart sad to think about.
There was some pollution in China. This was taken from outside our hotel window in Beijing. Yum.
After Beijing we traveled to Tianjin. At the conservatory they performed a concert on traditional instruments. It was so beautiful to experience their culture through music.
We had a taste of home late one night at Starbucks. We were pretty hyper due to our lack of sleep.
The beautiful building behind me is where we performed our second concert in Tianjin. A lot of the architecture in Tianjin was European influenced. I loved it.
The double reeds after our Tianjin concert. I miss you guys so much!
This signed cracked me up. Maybe it will do the same to you.
Fancy staircase in our only fancy hotel. We were so sad when we had to leave.
If you are from eastern Washington you will think this is funny.
Cool bridge in Shanghai
Ok this one requires some explanation. In China people asked to take pictures with us a lot. We were on a boat ride and got together for a group photo. Then, all of these people gathered to take pictures of us. And then I took a picture of them.
Me and Mandy in Shanghai
This guy was strolling around with his garden at midnight.
I love love love circle doors!
The beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou
China Philharmonic performing in Hangzhou. It was a great concert but the etiquette is SO different. We all enjoyed ourselves and had some laughs when the contra bassoonist played "if you're happy and you know it." Good times.
East tower in Guangzhou
Traditional Chinese instrument concert in Guangzhou. I want to learn all of these instruments.
We thought we stuck out too much so we bought some fake glasses.
Our concert was organized by communism.
Me, Kory, and Natasha after our final concert. This was also my last concert playing with Natasha since she is off to Indiana for grad school :( I know she will do great things but I already miss her so much. This tour was an incredible experience. Amazing country, wonderful people, and powerful music. It doesn't get much better than that.
