Recap

I'm at Frank's right now, with just four (FOUR?!?!) days until Christmas, and I'm having an awesome time. An albeit BUSY time, but awesome none-the-less. Frank's at work right now, and I'm sitting in his apartment, trying to figure out where the nearest Hobby Lobby is so I can make some cheap-o Christmas gifts (in FOUR days). Still no idea on what to get the BFF...

We decorated Frank's apartment last night after finding our perfect tree with Mitch and Hillary. The tree pretty much looks amazeballs, but still needs a star... And the apartment is covered in greenery and ornaments. It looks homey and warm!

I finished out the semester with okay grades, despite my horror after the German final. Looking back, I think the whole school ordeal was a little more tolerable than I would like to believe. SO many wonderful opportunities! The semester in recap (the good stuff):

-Met Frank and formed an AWESOME relationship with him. Frank is so amazing, and I'm lucky to be with him and be a recipient of his generosity! Plus, it's fun to date a tenor.

-Formed a relationship with several semi-professional ensembles in Bloomington, meaning monthly gigs and paychecks!

-Sang my first B Minor Mass, even though it wasn't the experience I had hoped it would be. Looking forward to the Crabb B Minor come April.

-Learned how to sing a few key phrases in German. "Few" is the key word, but maybe I can order a beer in Germany some day...

-Got several favorable reviews in the paper. This is really only exciting to me, I realize, but it's nice when people write good things about my singing :)

-FINALLY figured out some huge things about my voice and my singing: finally tuning better, finally a better legato, finally a more relaxed tone, and I finally can sing both soprano and alto without faking either one! This is huge!

-Developed an awesome relationship with my new family at Trinity Episcopal in Bloomington. It took me a little while to feel comfortable there, but now I do, and it's great! I am SO lucky to have fallen into that opportunity.

-Performed in EVERY gig known to mankind. It was funny because last week I had a rehearsal with my newest endeavor, an all Telemann concert, and Janet, the harpsichordist, introduced me to the gambist as "Lindsey--you know, she's in literally every concert at the school of music." And this is true! Pretty much. While it's scary and hectic at the time, it's wonderful to look back at all the career-building, rep-building opportunities I've been given. And even though I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to pay my tuition next month with room for living expenditures, I think IU has been invaluable for me...

But, on to the holidays! Christmas with Frank, then the family, some Voices of Prometheus the next week, and then a final week of relaxing (hopefully productivity) before treking back to Bloomington for the final round of classes before I start my real life (definitely NOT doing another degree this time...)