a passing post

i have failed at keeping this blog up to date so this post is just one in passing, though there may be another one as i have so much time off! i hope you all have a great christmas and holiday season. this year has been an amazing one filled with blessings that are so undeserved. a job that i would hardly consider a job because i love it so much, though it is a lot of work. opportunities to play with a professional orchestra. celebration of a year with the man that i love, but for those who keep track (like myself) we're really pushing three years. visiting family members who i don't see enough of... and my terrible memory is failing to serve me of all the other great things that have happened. i couldn't be more thankful for all of my family and friends who have been through this year with me. during this season, it's hard not to be thankful.

the few pictures i've taken.

1.) in rocky mountain nat'l park with jake's family. 2.) holding cousin claire's baby girl

3.) encouraging letter from jake during a rough week. 4.) strong group of musicians who played a three performances of the Marriage of Figaro and then another performance for the Lincoln's Symphony.

5.) visiting the grandparents in Alabama for Thanksgiving. 6.) first snow.

7.) meredith and i after a coffee date. 8.) all the teachers from the studio after the winter recital.

9.) changed my hair this past week... embracing the ombre.

10.) my man.

enjoy the holidays!

roasted bell pepper toasts

i haven't posted in forever. i'm so terribly sorry. life gets hectic when you're a full-time student, you work part-time, and are preparing for auditions and lessons with other professors. however, last night jake and i made this delicious recipe and i just had to share it with you all!

how our batch turned out.

these are roasted bell pepper toasts and they are to die for. 

seriously, they're delicious.

we were looking for a bruschetta recipe but decided to go with this instead. 

good thing we did.

click that link, roast some peppers, and you won't regret it.

til next time...

the swing of the things

i have been gone from my blog for far too long! i think i have some pretty good excuses though.

excuse #1: school started

excuse #2: i'm teaching every night

excuse #3: house/dog sitting for some friends

excuse #4: nothing too interesting has been happening

they're good, right? maybe i'm not cut out for the whole blogging thing; i'm definitely not going to make it a full time job.

school started last week and though i'm only taking about 14 credits, it still feels like a lot. it helps that one of them is a graduate course and the other two big ones are gen eds that require way too much work. not only that but with the addition of a few more students to my personal little studio, i manage to keep busy during the day and at night. i have about 16 students now? something around that number. it's all fun though, except for the school part. 

i've been watching this handsome fella...

poor quality, i'm sorry.

for the past half week and it's been pretty delightful.

i can count on him to wake me up every morning from around 7:30 - 8. except i won this morning and woke up before him. i think he was kind of confused by it.

just gettin' back into the swing of things. here's to hoping it won't be too long before i post again.

busy bee

 

~~~

picture 1:: after our final wedding on saturday. it was a gorgeous wedding. much like the ones you'd see on style me pretty. i kid you not.

picture 2:: getting ready for the first recital of the day.

picture 3:: sitting in the front row with my students. (only three of them aren't mine)

~~~

this weekend was packed with all kinds of performing fun.

//saturday was filled with weddings with my partners in crime, meredith and tim.

the festivities started around 8:30 am and ended around 7:30 pm.

some in between time was used for dress rehearsals for sunday's events.

after the wedding marathon was over i went to celebrate with jake's family as his grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. it was pretty cute.

//sunday was nissa's string studio's summer recital -- from 12:30pm to 10pm.

both were LONG DAYS of hard work.

yet completely worth it.

this is what i'll be doing this week.

not taking pictures of myself...but laying in bed.

there might be some productivity but we'll see.

i hope your weekend was a just as great as mine, but maybe more relaxing.

smooth as a baby's bottom

weird title, right? but that's how my face feels right now. after typing that, that sounds weird. maybe blogging when i'm tired isn't the best idea. oh well, here goes nothing.

my birthday was three months ago today and i was finally able to make time for my sister's present. i don't think i've ever mentioned her on here before, which is sad since she is my sister. and maybe i'll stop referring to her as 'my sister' since she does have a name... which is go-eun [she likes to go by daisy since it's easier to say but i'll just call her go-eun since i can say it]. ANYWAY, go-eun always picks out the most thoughtful gifts. not only are they thoughtful but they're gifts that i would never go out and buy for myself because i just wouldn't ever think to. so for my birthday that was three months ago, she bought me a microdermabrasion session. doesn't that sound freaky? i was freaked out and was seriously thinking about bailing out on the whole thing, especially since jake's sister had once received a chemical peel and remained out of the public eye for a day. i'm glad i didn't though because after running around paying bills all morning, microdermabrasion was preetttyyy nice.

i walked into the JMISKO office [where go-eun/daisy had scheduled the appointment], filled out a few forms, and was shown into a dimly lit room. this room was awesome. there was a robe for me to wear, a comfy bed to lay in, the sound of waves, and that relaxing music you might hear in a yoga session. before the microdermabrasion began i was informed that my skin would NOT react poorly, thank goodness. so my nerves were calmed and then my face was. she washed my face and then put lotion on it, or something...i may have been half asleep. the actual microdermabrasion part just felt like a little suction on my face, no big deal. but really...my face is as smooth as a baby's bottom.

as i was leaving i asked about body wraps, have any of you heard of that? apparently you can lose an inch off your waist after getting it done. turns out they don't offer that service but they do have this thing called the slimdome. i think i might actually try it out. you can burn 600 calories in 40 minutes by just laying there. my kind of deal since working out never really gives me any results...or so i think. check it out here.

that's all i got for you tonight. hopefully reading this wasn't too painful!

one more thing, are baby bottoms really that smooth?

forever infatuated

i remember the first time i saw his face; he looked at me with those dreamy blue eyes and his smile had such an incredible warmth to it. [he also had an amazing body] from that moment on i was hooked...

on paul newman.
you know what makes him even more attractive?
he was crazy in love with his wife, joanne woodward.
they were married for 50 years!
you don't hear many hollywood stories like that.

so tell me...

how could anyone not love paul newman.

this isn't a completely random post.

after doing some comparing...i believe jake looks similar to paul newman. 

he insists that he doesn't (i would have just gone with it and said, 'why yes, i do')

please indulge me and tell me what you think.

aye or nay?

exploring the west

a weekend in colorado is really not enough. the day and a half jake and i were there was crammed full of everything estes park, we were active every minute. the above photos were from day one. read after the jump for day 2 and a synopsis of the weekend.

one man's junk is another man's treasure

FINALLY! here is part one of my garage/estate sale post. this will be the garage sale segment. i don't know if that makes a difference to you or not, but maybe it'll make sense when both parts are finished.

i never knew the joys of garage sale-ing until this summer and boy, have i been missing out. actually, i don't think i would have cared that much if i would have gone in high school or early years of college. i was too busy caring about other things, like not being a complete nerd and lacking a social life. i've almost mastered it. anyhow, you've heard that idiom "one man's junk is another man's treasure" and i think this post will prove it to be true. that dresser, i got it for just $7. sure, it needs some work but $7! is aesthetically pleasing to me, especially since i know that i will clean it up just right. it's sad that this dresser's previous owner felt that the best price tag for it was $7. but for $7, i fell in love and bought it.

currently i'm obsessing over glass products. vintage glass products in particular. old mason jars, unique colored vases, milk bottles are all things that i have my eyes peeled for as i'm perusing through people's "junk". there's only one thing in those pictures that i didn't get from a garage sale and that would be the milk pints. they were so cute that i couldn't not get them... from an antique mall. especially since before i had seen these i was on shop sweet lulu and saw these milk bottles!

and even though i got mine from an antique mall, they happened to be far cheaper than buying them online. i get 24 for $36. my friends need to have babies so i can throw them a baby shower. or at least get married. please?

garage sales = my weekend.
maybe i'll run into you at one. i did see the high school librarian who still knows my name...is that embarrassing or should i be proud?

probably won't see you at garage sales this weekend though because jake and i are going to colorado! i get to see my second cousin claire who is eight months pregnant and her cute one year old baby. couldn't be more excited. hope you all have a great weekend!

grrr....

in getting a google+ account, some of my pictures on the blog have been tampered with. you'll notice some blank spots around the blog. sorry bout that. i might go back and fix it all...but chances are i won't. we'll see. you're still waiting for my garage/estate sale post. it's coming. i promise. just thought i'd let you know what was happenin' on the blog. here are some fun things to look at while you're here though.

image 1:: goshandgolly on etsy

image 2:: practical storage system hidden under stairs

image 3:: designlovefest

*update* :: i did end up fixing those pictures. :) no more blank spaces!

what makes me love you despite the reservations?

i'm not sure if you all remember but for my birthday jake bought us tickets to see fleet foxes in kansas city. so monday night we took the trek to kc, yet again, to see them. (traveling back and forth between kc and lincoln is getting kinda old...but it always seems to be worth it) the concert was in the uptown theatre which is an amazing venue but there seemed to be no air conditioning; even though my ears and mind were in complete heaven, my body was almost miserable. the place was packed making it hard to find seats, especially since we were late. but despite being shoved in a corner and uncomfortably hot 'n sweaty, it was an excellent concert. they're an incredible band and i would love to see them again. (i swoon when they start singing a cappella, those harmonies are delicious) next band on my wish list are the avett brothers. if you haven't listened to them, here's your chance. happy listening!

The Avett Brothers - Will You Return

catching up

i haven't posted on here for what seems like forever! i've been keeping busy doing all sorts of things.

i spent thursday, friday, AND saturday going to garage/estate sales and antique shops, something that i haven't really done before, and walked away with some treasures. i'll post pictures of them this coming week. 

thursday, a group of friends headed out to pinewood bowl to watch The Wizard of Oz. it was a good show, it wasn't my favorite that i've seen out there, but still ok. you have to respect the cast, the crew, and the pit for putting all their time into that production without any pay. that's a lot to give. i've been asked to do pinewood bowl the past few years but i can't sacrifice all that time. plus, with the heat, i think my violin would just fall apart and i wouldn't be too happy about that.

girlfriends

boys showing off their assets.

everyone!

the majority of saturday was spent with jake and our friends brendan and sara at this huge estate sale in flint ridge. i really mean huge. this townhouse we went into was somewhere around 3,000 square feet (or more) and the basement had a dry sauna, which i've never seen in a house before. pretty sure there were 5 different bathrooms. this house was massive. i'll have to tell you all more about these estate sales later, they're taken pretty seriously by the regulars. after that we also managed to hit up UNL's surplus auction. there was nothing there that i would have liked to have bid on, but it was interesting to see what one of those was like. saturday ended with a breakfast dinner: raspberry crepes (recipe from Young Married Chic) and nutella + banana crepes. i think the general consensus was that the nutella + banana crepes were better. i should have added more sugar to the raspberry crepes to balance the tartness. 

my food presentation isn't the best. but that's why i don't primarily blog about cooking.

i have a few more blog posts to sum up everything that has happened so far. hopefully those will get done soon. hope your weekend was just as exciting as mine. if not, you should do something about it.

two peas in a pod

freshmen in high school at a debate meet
typical reaction we got from onlookers

hanging out in the library after school
our hang out spot

we played some tennis
don't let the "#1" fool you...we weren't that good.

we graduated from high school together

studied in college...kind of

took risks

benefitted from taking risks

it's fun to look back and see how much has changed. i've changed so much that i think people who knew me five or six years ago would be surprised to have a conversation with me now. i was such a loud mouth and had a crazy amount of attitude. now i'm a little less brash and like to think before i speak, though there might still be a little attitude. one thing hasn't changed though. i still have my best friend. 

i was going through a bunch of pictures today and it's funny to see how we've changed together over the years. starting as kids who have slowly matured into the adults we are today. we've done everything together. middle school, high school, college. violin, debate, tennis. we've been through everything together; boyfriends, break-ups, successes, failures. we have been so close that people often think something is wrong if we're not together [we're two peas in a pod]. i am incredibly blessed by this friendship. i can't imagine what it would have been like not having such a great friend by my side all these years. the greatest thing about it is that i know it's a friendship that will continue to grow until we're old ladies who still need to talk on the phone everyday about the most mundane things. i love it. i guess the next big step will be graduating from college. only a year left, i can't believe it. i'm looking forward to the years to come.

our most up to date picture
doing what we love

[i'm currently getting ready to go to kc for a little weekend trip with friends! so excited. :)]