Tennessee Girl

Reluctantly I must announce that we are officially moved in, I just unpacked our last box yesterday. I guess I have been in denial this whole time, thoughts like, since we weren't totally unpacked we weren't really here to stay. No longer can I live in this denial so for now I will say that in reality I am a Tennessee Girl but in my heart I will ALWAYS be an Idaho Girl.
If you haven't guessed this hasn't been the easiest transition for me. First, I have never lived away from home. Second, we moved from a house to an apartment. Third, I like the cold and the snow and Knoxville is humid and very hot. Fourth, Knoxville is a lot more diversified than Idaho Falls, which is not a bad thing it has just taken some adjustment to be in the minority instead of in the majority. Last, I am pregnant, emotional, and I don't like change!!!
Although, there is a small glimmer of hope for a happy ending. Here are some highlights from our stay in Knoxville so far... A great weekend with my siblings Rob and Megan along with their families. A fun trip to the Knoxville Zoo. Eating dinner and playing games at a friend's house. Going on drives and exploring the city. Big thunderstorms; a nice break from the melting heat. Shopping for baby things. Looking forward to having my Mom come for Thanksgiving!
Yes, it is taking some adjustment to living here in Tennessee but I'll be okay! Andy is loving school and that makes me happy because he is doing something that he loves. I don't have any pictures to post yet but I will get some and post them soon. Hope everybody is doing well.

P.S. For those of you who don't know we are having a BOY!!!

Finally a New Post!!

It is apparent that I have been slacking off on our blog due to the fact that it has not been updated for almost three months. But, if you will accept it I do have a "good excuse". Shortly after the last post Andrew and I found out that we are expecting a baby!!!! We are so excited and can't wait to have a new addition to our family. Although, as the weeks have passed our excitement has been tampered with Extreme amounts of morning sickness, or should I say ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY sickness!!!!! So, here is my "good excuse"... for the last two and a half months I have spent what seems like every minute of every day at home in bed or in the doctor's office getting Vitamin B6 shots to help me with nausea. Everybody keeps telling me it is all worth it in the end and all I can say is, "It better be because we are only having one if it's not". But on a happier note we have experienced some amazing moments with being pregnant. Like the first ultrasound, hearing the baby's heart beat for the first time, and having the best doctor in the world, Dad.

ODE TO ANDREW

Today is Andrew's 26th birthday and I just wanted to share some of my favorite things about him. First, let's get the obvious out of the way - he is such a hunk! I have many people comment to me how cute they think he is and I can do nothing but agree with them. His smile lights up his face and is sweet enough to make me melt. Andrew loves to make me laugh. He thinks it is so funny to hear me giggle when he tickles me or to hear me squeal when he chases me up the stairs. Andrew is very mindful of my feelings, he does not like conflict and is quick to say he is sorry and even quicker to forgive me when I mess up. Andrew's least favorite task in the morning is shaving but he does it because he knows that his scruff feels like sand-paper on my face when we kiss. I love his freshly shaved face and the smell of his after-shave. Andrew puts up with my quirky habits; he lets me make him "To-Do" lists, he never gets in bed before me because he knows I don't like it, he gets up with me in the morning so I won't be lonely getting ready all by myself, and he lets me be obsessive compulsive about numerous things! Andrew is not afraid to be different and has really big dreams. He wants to be a famous opera singer and is not afraid to work towards that goal. Andrew is a Democrat. He takes the time to educate himself about both parties and respects my views even when they differ from his. At times our political discussions get a little heated but I am grateful to be able to see both sides of the political spectrum.

This is his favorite bumper sticker!

Andrew lets us keep our kitties even though he has allergies. He faithfully takes an allergy pill every morning so he doesn't get stuffed up from having Napoleon and Hermione around.
Andrew loves the gospel, he has a strong testimony and is a worthy priesthood holder. One of our favorite things to do is sealings at the Temple where we can hold hands across the alter and be reminded of our own sealing and the covenants we made that day. There are many more wonderful things I could say about Andrew but I am going to end with this... My favorite thing about Andrew is that he is MINE forever!!!!

Decision Time

THE ANTICIPATED NEWS HAS COME! We have heard from all the schools that we applied to. We have been accepted to UTK in Knoxville Tennessee and we have been accepted to IU in Bloomington Indiana. We won't know about scholarships until April 1st which is a bummer because that is a big part of our decision, but at least we know we have options. If anybody has any input as to where we should go please let us know because we are having a hard time weighing out the advantages and disadvantages of each place.

My brother wants me to learn this

Marietta's Song is from an opera called Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) and was written by Korngold. Rob loves this song and has asked me to learn it. I asked my voice teacher if I could work on it and she said that would be great a aria for me to learn! So Rob your wish has come true; I'm going to learn it for you!!!!

Meet our favorite voice teacher

Andy and I have the great privledge of taking voice lesson from Kristine Ciesinski. The video clip below is of her performance in the opera Wozzeck. She is an amazing women, a wonderful teacher, and is a master of singing and performing.

Whirlwind of Auditions

What an amazing adventure we had traveling from state to state auditioning for graduate schools. Our first destination was University of Cincinnati. We flew into Indianapolis got in our rental car and drove to Cincinnati. This drive was uneventful except for the fact that it was snowing, the roads were icy, and the back wheels of our tin can car kept sliding out and fish tailing. Living in Idaho we thought we knew all about driving on winter roads but driving a little Chevy Aveo changed our outlook. This car was no match for these roads no matter how experienced we were. We arrived in Cincinnati safely and found our hotel with no problem thanks to Dad letting us borrow his GPS! We weren't sure of our exact location in the city until we wanted to have pizza delivered to our room but when we called we were told that no pizza place delivers to the hotel because it is in the dead middle of downtown. So we ventured out to go pick up our own pizza. It was kind of scary. People just hang out on the streets and look suspicious. We saw a lady walking down the street with a gun and we think we even saw a drug exchange! But, besides being a little nervous about our surroundings we had a great time grocery shopping where we bought Cincinnati Chili spice packets and going out to dinner at Red Lobster. We also loved our visit to the campus, it is really beautiful. The Music building was neat to see, it is huge and has some amazing concert halls. Andy's audition went really well, he said the faculty was smiling and nodding their heads the whole time he was singing. Our next stop was Knoxville, Tennessee. The first day we were there we went to the campus and met with Andy Wentzel who is on the music faculty. He took us all around the music building and then sat down with us and answered all of the questions we had about the program. This was so nice because it gave us more of an idea about what we are getting ourselves into! We also sat in on an opera rehearsal which was fun to see and listen to. The next day was our audition and it went great! Both Andy and I sang really well and the faculty seemed really impressed. Right after the audition we got in the car and headed to North Carolina to visit Rob, Flori, and the Girls. This was the highlight of our trip! We were only able to stay with them for about a day and a half but we had a great time being there. Andy and Rob worked on house projects while Flori and I did some pattern making for some aprons she was sewing. We went to lunch with them at a great little place called "In the Key of C" - where we were introduced to sweet potatoe fries - YUMMY!!! Overall, Andy and I just loved being with them in their home to help with dinner, homework, bedtime, hairdos, and to just be apart of their family for a day. After our quick but fun visit to North Carolina we made the 10 hour drive back to Bloomington, Indiana for Andy's final audition. We loved being in Bloomington. We of course went to Avers, the best pizza place in the world! We drove around and explored the city and also attended the opera one night. We had a great time! And with no surprise Andy's audition went really well here too. Indiana University has some great facilities available for the performing arts, we were really impressed. This ended the audition trip and we headed back home. Now that all three auditions are over all we have to do is wait and wait, just like this garden statue...