Music and Friends :)

“May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.” -Trenton Lee Stewart

Me and Jana, after hiking Mt. Roberts!

Hello from Ruth and Jana in the beautiful city of Juneau, Alaska! Okay, I never left, but Jana is here now, and I feel like I am seeing this wonderful place through new eyes.

After the Symphony Showcase!

The past week came and went in a calm, joyful fashion- it was full of classes, rehearsals for the Showcase, and preparations for my visiting friend. :) I spent Saturday morning cleaning and finally doing laundry and also talking to my wonderful grandparents (shout out to Granmommy- happy birthday!!!). I then headed over to Glacier Valley for cello ensemble rehearsal, which has been a weekly time of making beautiful music together. We even got outside and took some awesome group shots to advertise for our giant cello ensemble concert on April 30th (the day before I technically graduate, even though I still have classes to finish up until August!)! And then, before I knew it, the Symphony Showcase marathon began!

The quartet and I got all dressed up and performed our two quartet pieces (including the premiere of Tyree’s piece!!), and I performed my solo piece, Silent Woods, last night and again this afternoon! In the midst of that, Jana arrived. She actually got to the church last night right as the performance was ending, so it was super exciting to walk off the stage and find her!! The performance went great- it was a packed house, and I gave it my all. Man, do I love performing! And people noticed that, which is always nice to hear. :)

Jana and I rushed home soon after the concert so we could get some shut-eye before our epic day today! We got up right at 7:30 (which is pretty impressive, considering it was Daylight Savings time!) and set out to hike Mt. Roberts to the tram. And we did it!!! Both of us were nervous we wouldn’t be in good enough shape to get up it quickly, but we were hiking rock stars and made it up there with plenty of time to have a mini photoshoot- thank goodness no one else was around! We then slipped and slid on our butts (yes, that happened) down the icy/snowy hills on the way down. But it was just serene up there. There is nothing like being on a mountain, surrounded by snow with the sun shining down and the channel’s waters whispering in the distance. And Jana sure picked a good weekend to visit because we have seen the best weather here the past couple of days!! After that, we had enough time to visit the Flume Trail (because that is totally one of my staple trails, as we know) and drive around downtown before heading home to get ready for the concert. The concert today also went great- I felt even better about it the second time around! I gave it my all, and I had such wonderful friends there to support me. I had a few church friends show up, and Eric and Teri, my Alaskan parents, were there with a giant bouquet of gorgeous pink roses for me. :) It was so nice to play in the church we were in today, Aldersgate Methodist, because there were windows all around that let in beautiful natural light, and one audience member told me that the sun was shining right on me and Lorrie as we played Silent Woods. :) It was pretty special!

After I received many kind and warm comments from people, Jana and I headed out to the famous Mendenhall Glacier to watch the sunset. It was magical! I kept saying to Jana throughout the day that I had never done some of these things- like watch a sunset here, or spend a day in the sun (because honestly, the sun isn’t usually visible!). This has been a very relaxing, refreshing weekend, and it has been so wonderful having such a good friend here. :)

Jana and I took over 200 pictures today- definitely too many to post on here! So feel free to check out our Facebook album!

I am also posting a link to my Silent Woods performance, so enjoy it!!

The sunset by Mendenhall Glacier. :)