A new member in the family!

Derek and I have been waiting so long to get a puppy and finally it's time! We are so excited to finally have a puppy of our own!





Lucy is a black lab/golden retriever mix and was born November 28. She is from the same mother as my sister's dog, Rosie. We are very excited to see if she will be similar to Rosie (they have different fathers). Rosie's father was a chocolate lab and Lucy's is a black lab. We fell in love with her so fast! When I picked her up she gave me a kiss and then snuggled right in and fell asleep. I was mean and woke her so Derek could have a turn holding her. She quickly discovered the strings on his sweatshirt and had a great time trying to figure out what those were! :) She officially comes home this Saturday, so we will have a lot more pictures to post then.

We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season! I will post later to tell you more about our Christmas and New Years fun.

We wish you...

...a Merry Christmas!! :)

I LOVE Christmas time! The Wilson family has a lot of traditions and I love that now I have my own home to carry out some of those. The day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday for some) is our day to decorate the house. My mom has a million and has been passing them down to my sister and I over the past couple years. It's so fun to see decorations that I loved as a child now in my own home. My favorite is the nativity pop-up book. I'll have to take some pictures and post them. This Saturday, my brother's boy scout troop is selling Christmas trees, so we will go and get one to put up. Derek is excited because Philips has come out with new LED lights, so we can be more energy efficient, while having "better looking lights". I love my husband. :)

On that note, it's hard to believe that we have been married 8 months. Now we are helping my sister plan her wedding. Her and Matt are going to be married on July 23, 2010 which is my parents anniversary. I am so excited to be her matron of honor/wedding planner. It has been a ton of fun so far.

In other news, Derek has received a promotion and is now going to be a shift manager at Arbys. While he wishes he could find a job in his field, he is very excited about the steady hours they will offer him and the pay raise. The job market is not good here in Binghamton. All the companies that Derek would be applying for are currently laying off workers. We keep hoping the economy will turn around but it's not looking up here.

I have a week and a half left of classes and then one final to take. I'm really looking forward to next semester. I am going to be conducting Liszt's Les Preludes and the Overture from Don Giovanni by Mozart. (See below to listen to Don Giovanni) It's going to be an amazing semester!

Keep an eye out for a Christmas card from us, they should be going out soon!

Tis the season...

...for concerts!

Last weekend was the concert I've been talking about for months with the Paul Taylor Dance company from NYC. It was amazing. With all the rehearsals, I think I saw the ballet a total of 4 times and it was amazing every time! The fantastic news is that they were so excited to work with us that they're trying to get a grant to become the dance company in-residence at Binghamton University. This would be amazing for the University and is a huge confidence boost for the orchestra which is made up of mostly non-music majors!

Yesterday was the family weekend concert and I was asked to play the Eb clarinet with the wind ensemble. It was quite the experience...let's just put it that way! :) Eb is always an adventure.

Upcoming events include, the Madrigal concert, Faculty concerto concert and the concerto competition. It's going to be a very busy fall!

Derek has been quite busy as well working two jobs (still Uno's and Arby's). He's desperately trying to find work somewhere else and has been filling out job applications right and left. He did hear back from Best Buy and we're hoping that that might lead to a full time job!

In other news, it's about time for us to invest in a car. The focus is on it's last leg and really is making us nervous to drive. We took it to the shop and was told that it would be a waste of money to start fixing things because there is so much wrong with it. :( That's never a good sign. So we're hoping that maybe by Christmas or the New Year to be able to get a car. We'll see...

Other than that, not much is new. We're just trying to stay afloat in these busy times. Graduate school is a lot busier than we anticipated and so there's not a lot of time to spend together. Especially since Derek works the most on weekends. But we're doing well. How are all of you? We hope well as we begin into the holiday season!

Update!

Wow, I'm sorry that this hasn't been updated in awhile! Sometimes it seems like it has been forever since September 3rd (the last post) and other times, it seems like yesterday. It's hard to believe that I'm a month through graduate school!

It has been very intense, but I am learning so much! I just got done with English diction class, where I had to act out a dialogue (with a friend) from a Gilbert and Sullivan show; in a British accent none the less. It was very interesting. I have to give Alicia credit, this IPA/diction stuff is a lot more tricky than I thought it would be! I'm also working on a research paper for my music history class. I don't think I have ever spent so much time in the library! The library here is huge!! Anna, you would love it! As graduate students, we get to keep books for a year, which is awesome since I am horrible with library due dates!

Derek has been incredibly busy working 2 jobs. Most days he works from 8:30am until 5pm at Uno's and then from 6 or 7pm until Midnight at Arbys. I feel awful that he is working so much at jobs that he doesn't really enjoy! He did put in an application for an audio/visual job at the local community college and we're really hoping that he'll hear back soon! It would be perfect for him and it's something that he really enjoys to do!

In other news, we just purchased our first bed! :) We bought a Sealy Pillowtop mattress, which is incredible! The mattress forms around your body when you lay down, which is very comfy! We love it and are sleeping much better than when we were on a blow up mattress!

As far as concerts go, the first concert for the orchestra is on October 17th. We are performing with a ballet company (Paul Taylor) from New York City. The concert is coming together well and today is our first rehearsal in the concert hall. After that we don't have a concert until Christmas time. I am conducting the String Orchestra right now and hopefully will start working with the Symphony Orchestra in late October or early November.

Well, I better go get some work done. I will try to update this more regularly from now on!

Oh boy...

this semester is going to be crazy! Between 18 hours of graduate assistant work, 12 credit hours, orchestra and practicing, I'm going to be running quite a bit. I'm taking:

Private Conducting lessons

English Diction/IPA

Music History and Research

Independent Study: Orchestral Repertoire

My graduate assistantship is in the following:

6 hours - Theory III (This is very ironic, but basically I grade homework/tests, tutor and set up the class room)

6 hours - Orchestra (Setting up the orchestra seats, taking care of the music library and conducting)

3 hours - Basic Conducting (Co-teaching and also help with set-up)

2 hours - Music Office (working in the music office, answering phones, etc.)

1 hour - House Manager (working at recitals/concerts where I set up the hall, turn on lights, set out programs, watch the door so no one is walking around while people are playing, etc.)

So yeah, it's a bit insane. I like it so far. All the professors and staff are really nice! I can tell that I'm going to learn a lot here. The only thing I'm bummed about now is the conducting lesson I just came from. I know I'm here to learn, but I have this awful need for perfection and it really gets me down sometimes. I love conducting so much and I really just want to get up there and do it, but there is a lot to learn first. Hopefully, I will be on the podium soon.

For something to listen to, here is one of Beethoven's symphonies. Symphony No. 1. This piece is different because it is Symphony No.1 in C minor, but instead of starting the first movement on a C minor chord, he starts it on a V7 chord. This was very unusual for the time! Beethoven truly was an innovator and I'm sure this made just a few people upset. :) Enjoy!

And so it begins...

Tomorrow is my first day of graduate school!! :) After months of preparation, I'm finally going to school. I'm still nervous about the tests (these are on Wednesday) but I'm doing some last minute work now and should be ok. I'm just saying lots of prayers that I don't freak myself out. I tend to be a bad test taker because I second guess myself. 

Derek had his first work day alone on the line today at Unos. He was nervous that he would forget recipes, but he did just fine. He really is enjoying that job but still wishes he could find something in his field. Hopefully something will come up soon!

Not much else is new, but I will write again after my tests on Wednesday. :)

Updated checklist...

So, I thought since I wrote so many posts about things I had to do, I would let you know how much has been done. :) Thankfully, I've gotten quite a bit accomplished!

1. Read Teaching Your First College Class - check

2. BU online classes for GA's - check

3. Submit all paperwork for admission - check

4. Review 500+ years of Music History for exam - I'm up to the Classical period (only 2 left)

Still left to complete:

5. Music Theory review

So, all in all, it has been a productive few weeks. I'm starting to get really excited about the classes I will be taking! Finally, classes specific to my interests!!!

I also made a photo book of all our wedding photos. It is so beautiful and I can't wait for it to get here!! I also helped my mom make one. It's so fun...and easy! If you still want wedding pictures, they will be up on Mary's website through tomorrow. If you don't get them from there in time, just send me an email (or leave a comment) and I can send you some copies. :) 

Here's something for you to listen to. One of my favorite musicals is The Lion King. It is fabulous! I've seen it twice and would love to go again. Derek hasn't seen it, so hopefully we'll be able to go sometime. Here is one of my favorite songs for the musical, He Lives in You. Enjoy!