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Did you know...


There are 88 keys on a piano. Even by playing one note at a time more songs can be composed on a piano than all the known atoms in the universe.




I love music!

apron giveaway

 Check out this apron giveaway!!!

Christmas presents anyone?!?!? :-D

Random Question

What is your favorite color?

Seriously!  I want to know!! Please answer!

I don't post here enough, so...

Let's talk.

What's your favorite color?

Recital Article

I forgot to mention.  The school newspaper did an article on my recital.  Which was really nice of them.

I'm copying it here for you slightly modified so that I not posting personal info ;-)  I do have a CD and video from the performance.  I don't have the video off the tape yet but I will get around to uploading some music one of these days....

On April 27, Katie performed her senior recital at the Center for the Arts. About 60 family members, friends and students attended the violin recital. With help from other student musicians and friends, Katie performed several pieces of music.
5-6-senior-recital-jodi-krautkramer.jpg
Photograph by Jodi Krautkramer

About 60 people filled the CFA April 27 to watch Katie perform her senior recital. Katie began playing the violin about 17 years ago. Katie selected the pieces of music she played after intermission.
The concert showcased the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Fritz Kreisler and Luigi Boccherini. Accompanied by student pianist Emily Neal, Katie performed most of the music with only a piano and flower vase on the stage.
“For Katie, everything on stage reflected her personality,” said Emily Neal, junior general and choral education major. “Katie was very well prepared, so when we sat down to put it together, it was easy.”
Guided by her instructor Paul Brenner, Katie selected the first half of the concert music to meet the music requirements. The music after intermission was selected by Katie alone.
“I wanted to do music that would be fun for the audience,” said Katie. “Lover’s Waltz by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason is one of my favorites as is the Boccherini Quintet. Fiddle music is always fun to hear and play.”
During the Luigi Boccherini piece La Musica Notturna di Madrid, four students accompanied Katie on stage. Those musicians included Nathan Manwiller, Hannah Caylor, Brice Lory and Alex Hummel.
“My favorite part of the concert was when Katie was accompanied by the piano,” said Tanya Kammes, sophomore biology major. “She made playing the violin look easy.”
Katie began playing the violin about 17 years ago. At times, she thought about quitting, but she always decided to keep playing.
“I was a very intense child, and my parents knew that I needed something to funnel that intensity into,” said Katie. “So, they prayed and asked God to tell them what to do. God spoke to my mom that I needed a violin.”
Although Katie has been a business administration major with an emphasis in computer information systems, she used to be a music major. Typically, non-music majors do not give recitals, but she changed her major after deciding to do a recital. She is still contemplating a music minor or double major.
Katie is hoping to graduate in two years. After graduation, Katie would like to remain living in the Midwest and have a job in computers or doing computer work from home.
“I love the Midwest and the people that live here. I love the fact that people here care about each other.”
Outside of school, Katie enjoys teaching violin lessons to nine students and hopes to continue teaching the violin wherever she ends up.
"I would rather be a wretched sinner with a sense of truth, and know that I was made by God for a specific reason, than think that I am a cosmic accident with no sense of guilt, no sense of morality, and nothing to live for."

So...

my violin recital is in 10 days.....

AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey people!!!

I know I haven't updated in a while and this template is hard to read sometimes... I just wanted to drop a line and say "hi!"  I might change the template soon... I might not...

Anyway... I miss you all.... I'm doing a violin recital on April 27th.  You are all invited, if you want more info let me know and I will email it to you.  Otherwise, leave a comment and let me know how you are doing.

*hugs to all my people* I miss you!

My Current Creed

"Here I stand.  I can do no other.  So help me God."
~Martin Luther

Something that made me think

    ...what American history is truly about - ideas.  Ideas such as "All men are created equal"; the United States is the "last, best hope" of earth; and America "is great, because it is good."
    Honor counted to founding patriots like Adams, Jefferson, Washington, and then later, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.  Character counter.  Property was also important; no denying that, because with property came liberty.  But virtue came first.  Even J.P.Morgan, the epitome of the so-called robber baron, insisted that "the first thing is character...before money or anything else.  Money cannot buy it."
     It is not surprising, then, that so many left-wing historians miss the boat (and miss it, and miss it, and miss it to the point where they need a ferry schedule).  They fail to understand what every colonial settler and every western pioneer needed for success, but character was the prerequisite because it put the law behind property agreement, and it set responsibility tight next to liberty.  And the surest way to ensure the presence of good character was to keep God at the center of one's life, community, and ultimately, nation.  "Separation of church and state" meant freedom to worship, not freedom from worship.  It went back to that link between liberty and responsibility, and no one could be taken seriously who was not responsible to God. 'Where the Spirit of the Lord it, there is liberty."  They believe those words...............

Random Fact

I've been doing a speed reading course that is one of the pre-requisites for doing College Plus.  I've always been a fast reader.  About 450 wpm. Well, I'm about 60% done with the course and I can now read 680 wpm.  Just in case you wanted to know.

Inscription of Hope

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining.
And I believe in love
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God
even when God is silent.
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.
But sometimes in this suffering
and hopeless despair
My heart cries for shelter
to know someone’s there.
But a voice rises within me saying,
‘hold on my child
I’ll give you strength, I’ll give you hope
Just stay a little while.’
I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining.
And I believe in love
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God
even when God is silent.
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.
May there someday be sunshine,
May there someday be happiness,
May there someday be love,
May there someday be peace.

Have I ever mentioned that fact that

I love








CHOCOLATE! 
Well, I do...

Thoughts from James Otis (Johnny Tremain)

"For what will we fight?"         

"To free Boston from these infernal redcoats and…"          "No," said Otis. "Boy, give me more punch. That's not enough reason for going into a war. Did any occupied city ever have better treatment than we've had from the British? Has one rebellious newspaper been stopped—one treasonable speech? Where are the firing squads, the jails jammed with political prisoners? What about the gallows for you, Sam Adams, and you John Hancock? It has never been set up. I hate those infernal British troops spread all over my town as much as you do. Can't move these days without stepping over a soldier. But we are not going off into civil war merely to get them out of Boston. Why are we going to fight? Why, why?          
There was an embarrassed silence. Sam Adams was the acknowledged ringleader. It was for him to speak now.          
"We will fight for the rights of Americans. England cannot take our money away by taxes."          
"No, no. For something more important than the pocketbooks of our American citizens."          
Rab said, "For the rights of Englishmen—everywhere."          
"Why stop with Englishmen?" Otis was warming up. He had a wide mouth, crooked and generous. He settled back in his chair and then he began to talk. It was such a talk as Johnny had never heard before. The words surged up through the big body, flowed out of the broad mouth. He never raised his voice, and he went on and on……..
"…For men and women and children all over the world," he said. "You were right, you tall, dark boy, for even as we shoot down the British soldiers we are fighting for rights such as they will be enjoying a hundred years from now…."            
"We are lucky men," he murmured, "for we have a cause worth dying for. This honor is not given to every generation."              
"It is all so much simpler than you think," he said. He lifted his hands and pushed against the rafters. "We give all we have, lives, property, safety, skills…we fight, we die, for one simple thing. Only that a man can stand up."  


"Hundreds would die, but not the thing they died for. 'A man can stand up…'"

Life Update

So as of this last Wednesday I am officially a full time college student again. Not at UWP but with College Plus. And I'm not getting a music degree. It's kinda a long-short story. The long story is that I have been trying to finish my music degree for years and pretty much running into lots of brick walls. Which resulted in my getting pretty bruised and discouraged about the whole thing. Ready to forget it all. Except, I'm not the kind of person who does that. So, I spent many hours online looking for a way to do it online. I found a few things but I didn't feel comfortable about them. Then one day in the middle of church a thought dropped in my head. "Why not change your major?" Honestly, it startled me. And then I thought, why not. I wasn't sure what I would change it to. The thought was somewhat foreign. I got home and started looking at different majors, the only thing that was sticking out was computers. But Computer Science involves a lot of math; calculus, trigonometry, etc. EEEK!!!! And well.. computer programming with an emphasis would take me at least 4 year of full-time schooling and requires something ridiculous like 150 credits!!! So... I'm getting off track... I decided to check into College Plus. Mom said that they would look at my transcript and tell me if it was possible to finish music. I figured I might as well try and while I was waiting for my transcript I talked to mom about the computer thing. I had found out that I could do Computer Information Systems(CIS) which is less math but still computer related. Which is more like software programming and networking and such. She was totally ok with it and so was everyone else. It just made since. I felt really good about it because for me it was practically like doing a 180 in my career path. But I was comfortable with it right from the start, I'm been able to switch gears with very little thought. Granted I still catch myself checking out music options but it's habit. Besides with the current economy situation computers is a smarter field to go into than music. Everyone knows that the arts get cut first...

I talked to a lady College Plus and everything seemed great, made sense and seemed possible. I could double major in CIS and Music, but at this point I'm not sure about that, it might just be more work and not really necessary. She said that the credits I already have would all transfer over and I could be done in 2 years easily. It will cost a LOT LESS that a state college. So I enrolled. I am currently working my way through 1 book, 2 audio-books, and a DVD that you are required to do before starting. Audio books aren't my forte but I'm persevering. Then I'm diving into a History course that Debi already has the stuff for. So hopefully in 18 to 24 months tops I will have a degree!! It won't be hanging over my head anymore!!!

So, that's that. Hope it all makes sense...

Do or Don't



Our Bible Study group has been reading through Do Hard Things.   Granted the study is mostly adults, there is actually only one of us who is still technically a "teen".  But we're reading it anyway, and applying it to life as an adult.  An Adult Rebellion Against Low Expectations :-)  I was working through the chapter for this week when I ran across this passage:
Lindsey is a "good girl" who seemingly never does anything wrong.  She won't watch R-rated movies, wears a promise ring her dad gave her on her thirteenth birthday, and won't even date (or "court," as she puts it) until she's ready to get married.  It doesn't make her highly popular among some of her peers, but she cares more about what the adults in her life think.  And they praise her constantly - usually while they bemoan all the "bad stuff" other teens today are involved in.
She loves it when she gets compliments for being such a "wonderful girl," but when Lindsey is honest, she knows she's become exceptional for what she doesn't do. She doesn't attend wild parties, cause trouble, or want a tattoo. But what does she do? Is the Christian life all about avoiding "bad stuff" or is it about doing "good, hard stuff" for God?  Deep down Lindsey knows the answer, but she's already praised for being such a godly girl. Isn't that enough?
The words jumped off the page and smacked me over the head.  I can completely relate.  I know the feeling all to well.  So here's the thoughts.. Are you (and me) known for the things we do or the things we don't do? And what kind of things can you or we do to change that? I'm going to leave you with one thing.  Just a little encouragement for all of us.




The Music Stopped

For those who are unaware: At all military base theaters, the National Anthem is played before the movie begins.

This is written by a Chaplain in Iraq :

I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial ser vices and other large gatherings.
As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the music stopped.

Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of course, that is, if they had stood for
the National Anthem in the first place.

Here in Iraq , 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The
music started again and the Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect 1,000 Soldiers standing at attention to do?? Frankly, I expected some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie to start.

But No!!... You could have heard a pin drop, while every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of the auditorium, then a
dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off: "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you. Remember them as they fight for us!

Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. Many have already paid the ultimate price.

Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins
LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in Iraq , north of Baghdad
I know a blog isn't a blog if you never update....

Let me just say this past weekend was one of the best Thanksgivings ever.

I love and am very thankful for these people (and the ones that aren't in the picture)




Hey everyone!!! I know it's been forever since I updated, bad me.... anyone life has been good, normal. Got a new computer about a month ago.  I'm LOVING it! It's so nice to be able to do something without the computer freezing up every 10 minutes.

Susie, Debi, Lydia and I went to Tyson and Shannon's for 3 days the last weekend in October.  Which was lovely and reminds me that I have an unfinished email for Tyson in my drafts box...  Of course on the way home we had a little car trouble because I hit a huge raccoon on the way to David and Kristi's.  Which wasn't fun, but thankfully the car isn't damaged.  Then on the way home mom called and informed us that Rebecca and Stephanie had H1N1.  Which resulted in my moving to Mom and Dad's house for a week to avoid getting the flu.  The result was successful, for the most part.  I came down with a REALLY nasty cold instead.  It lasted 2 weeks followed by a sinus infection which gave me monster headaches for a week and I took lots of nap which was odd.  But taking it easy was a nice break.

Since then I've done a concert and am currently up to my ears in music for the University's Christmas concert in 2 weeks.  Otherwise life is pretty normal.  Debi and Lyd are coming to pick me up.  We are going shopping... See you all later.