Life as I have known it (this past year)

So, I have been thinking about blogging for a while and decided to write a post today!

It's been A LONG time since the last post, so I guess I will try to fill in some gaps the best I can.

After Kevin graduated, Kevin and I moved back to Colorado and lived with my parents until we could figure out where we needed to be next.

In December of 2013 we moved into our own place in the same stake but a different ward.
When we first lived with my parents, I decided to get a short part time job working at 24 hour fitness...the thought was that by working here I could get a better idea on whether I wanted to try getting certified as a personal trainer, before I spent a bunch of money on it. I started working the front desk, and part time in the kids center. Later, a promotion opportunity came up and I applied and got a job as Kid's Club Supervisor. It was nice having a LITTLE more pay, and being able to put some of my input in things. I LOVED working with the kids and getting to know so many parents, but the longer I worked there the more boring it became and hard dealing with management. I also got to know a lot of personal trainers there. Based off of my observations and conversations with them, I decided that Personal Training was not for me.

As I worked at 24 hour, I also got a job working as a nanny for a family 5 minutes away from us! This was SUCH a blessing! I have gained a great relationship with this family and have fallen in love with their kids. I nanny a 5 (almost 6) year old boy, and a 19 month old girl! Most days, I just watch the 19 month old while the older boy is at school. I enjoy my time reading to her, fixing her hair in adorable hairstyles, kissing her face to pieces, taking her to story time at the Library, and playing with her! She is a doll. She is starting to get to the age where she throws tantrums a lot more though...and will make the "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm going to test you anyway" look.

The 6 year old boy is pretty good too! We play games a lot. He is a very competitive kid, very happy, and VERY high energy! There are some days I have to drink a "Zipfizz" (energy drink) just to keep up with him. He struggles a bit with independant play, but has been getting better.

During the last few months of my time at 24 hour fitness, I started to think about teaching voice and violin lessons. I had always put off this because it generally takes a year or two to really get a good studio going. However, at this time I was getting really tired of little pay and lots of hours at 24 and I was getting worn out. I knew that if I could get 1 or 2 students, I could get about the same amount of money as I made at 24 and work less hours. So I decided to go with it and started a profile on "TakeLessons" to see what would come of it.

Fortunately, within a couple of weeks I got my first 3 students! For about a month, I was working 3 jobs-24 hour fitness, nannying, voice/violin teacher. I did this just in case I lost students, but after a few lessons, I felt comfortable quitting 24! It has been such a blessing to teach! I LOVE IT! Most of the time it doesn't even feel like I am teaching! I have gained great relationships with my students as well! It's not always roses though. I have had a few students flake out on lessons, not pay, or quit because they got discouraged with playing the violin...but I have learned a lot. I have now been teaching for about 6 months and currently have 5 students!

At the beginning of January, I had a combined recital with a friend of mine that has a lot of piano students. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed watching my students perform! It is very fun to see their progress and watch them accomplish something that is hard for a lot of people to do! I am excited to work on another one, but am also glad it is over so we can work on some new music!

Lastly, in the past year I have been trying to get more performance opportunities for myself. When Kevin was in school, I kind of put singing and music on the back burner...and when we moved back I wanted to get back into it. Last year, I auditioned for the "Colorado Mormon Chorale" and was accepted. I sing in the Soprano section and have loved being able to sing in concerts again. Recently, our Stake and the "Colorado Mormon Chorale" started announcing auditions for the oratorio, "Lamb of God" by Rob Gardner. I have always wanted to be a part of this, so I decided to audition for a solo. I feel so blessed to be able to sing the part of "Martha" in this production. I have never really had the opportunity to sing a solo with a choir and live orchestra before, so this is very exciting!

I am so grateful for all the many lessons, blessings, and experience I have gained in this last year! It has been very hard year for Kevin and me...but I have grown a lot.