Winter in the Last Frontier

It’s snowing!!!

This is my first time seeing snow-covered mountains!

Ah, yes. A little piece of Chicago is finally with me! It began to snow this past week, and not in the usual rainy, sleety I’m going-to-attack-your-face sort of way. Graceful chunks of snow floated onto my head as I walked the mile from downtown to my house last night, and it was one of those beautiful moments that I paused to capture in my memory and will save for a rainy day (probably literally!). And taking those moments of reflection was my goal for the week; it’s the only way for me to stay healthy and happy in a very busy, stressful time.

Things are in full gear now, and this past week was also a little unique in its craziness. Lorrie was gone for the week leading an El Sistema training seminar in Boston, which left us quartet members to lead rehearsal with our chamber music kids (a group of about 20 fourth and fifth graders) during parent-teacher conferences on Monday and Tuesday. We had a great, productive couple of days and got a lot of important work done with the chamber group, which is great because they will be performing for a few significant fundraising events in the next month- including a performance at the Governor’s Mansion! We had no school on Wednesday because of Veterans Day, but I definitely did not take a day off! I spent the entire day at the local coffee shop, Heritage (I LOVE that place!), doing work.

Walking to Heritage and doing work there all day has become my newly-founded tradition for my “days off”. I have discovered that the wifi in my house is not super reliable- it usually goes out about twice a week. In addition to that, when I know I will be sitting at a computer all day, it’s just nice to force myself to get outside and walk for a little bit. Doing work at a popular coffee shop also increases my chances of having social interactions throughout the day! I ran into Lindsay, one of the other quartet members, on Wednesday, and Sophia on Sunday! So, yeah...Maybe they’re the only people I still interact with...but whatever!
It felt good to get things done, but I was pretty sad that I did not get any days off and that I still need about three more of those days in order to get all my homework and lesson plans done. My goal is to get as much work as possible done before Thanksgiving so I can just relax during those days (which is great, because Lorrie invited me to her place for Thanksgiving!).

Thursday was an intense reintroduction to school because I subbed for Lorrie again. But yay, money and teaching experience! I taught a second grade class about solfege and did musical jeopardy with them, which they loved. Seeing them get so excited about correctly answering a musical question made me realize that learning can be fun for kids; it’s my job to plan lessons that make that possible! I actually recorded myself teaching that lesson, which was very helpful to go back and watch. I noticed that I over-explain instructions and need to have faster pacing when talking and transitioning to new activities. I also noticed that I am sounding and looking a lot more credible, which is something I was working on!

Friday was JAMM orchestra day for the general music classes, which is always pretty crazy. Having 50+ kids with their instruments in a room always leads to organized chaos. But at least it was organized! At the end of a long week of teaching on our own, we quartet members were very proud of ourselves and very tired.

The JAMM reception spread- can you say sugar?!

But the work didn’t end there! Three wonderful Symphony members put on a benefit concert for JAMM this weekend. So Saturday and Sunday were spent setting up, attending, speaking at, and tearing down for these performances. But it was incredible to see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into hosting a successful fundraising event. I didn’t even know how much work and thought goes into every detail of an event. I have to tell you, there are a few incredible Glacier Valley parents who really give their all and make these events such a success. Between them, a couple other parent volunteers, the quartet members, and Lorrie, it really ran smoothly. We quartet members got up and introduced ourselves to the audience both times and were able to meet people afterwards at a wonderful reception. And I ate way too many sweets this weekend because of that reception! But the most amazing part of all of it- we raised $2,400! Praise the Lord! People were so generous and gracious. Heidi also made hundreds of homemade violin and musical note instruments that were (and still are!) for sale, so a lot of people purchased those. It was a huge success.

Heidi, Leslie, Sophia, Ali, me, and Lorrie at the JAMM Benefit Concert!
Leslie is a cellist in second grade, and Ali is a bassist in fifth. :)

Needless to say, it was a busy, not-so-restful weekend. BUT- I got to go to church with my surrogate “Christian Alaskan parents”, Teri and Eric, and went out to lunch with them afterwards (before they dropped me off for the concert), AND I attended an awesome folk music potluck party at my house! I just have to say how grateful I am for people like Teri and Eric, Rob and Koren, and Sue. I had prayed that I would befriend older people during my time in Alaska, and that is exactly what’s happened. These people are all a generation ahead of my parents, and they have decades of wisdom and experiences to share with me. At this time in my life where there are so many unknowns and lots of questions that sometimes weigh me down, it’s so helpful to hear from people who have been through that and are way on the other side of it. And they’re all so cool! People in Juneau are really down-to-earth and friendly. And Rob and Koren’s party was full of awesome musicians. I sat and talked with a local piano teacher for a long time (whose husband I teach bass with for JAMM!) while listening to a group of people jam to old timey folk music. It was such a delight. And there was MORE sugary food!

Taking the time to go to church, out to lunch with friends, and attend a party caused me to stay up way too late last night and inspired my decision to extend my blog publishing deadline to this afternoon, but it was so worth it! My thought is, when I look back on this time, sure- I’ll remember that I was very busy, got less sleep, and was pretty stressed. But I’ll mostly remember all the positive memories- the good teaching days, amazing hikes and scenery, fun friendships and game nights, and good conversations with friends and family back home. That’s what matters! This year is the perfect opportunity for me to strengthen my ability to handle stress in a healthy way, and I have felt myself get infinitely stronger every time I decide to do things like going for a walk, calling a friend, or going to sleep early. It feels so good!

So, no matter where you are and what it means for you, stop to look at your snowflakes.