Signed-up for a triathlon and started training for a marathon.











I had Christmas up in Idaho!
While home, Abi and I held our annual Christensen Christmas Ball.

Signed-up for a triathlon and started training for a marathon.



















I'm reminded of a quote that I read in Anne of Green Gables a few years ago. Anne is talking to Marilla about how her plans are changing. In this part of the book, she has reached a point where it has become important for her to stay and take care of her caregiver and give up her education for a while. *VPS standards refers to how your voice is scored at juries on a 5.0 scale. To pass onto the next level of voice lessons, in vocal performance (360), a student has to receive a VPS of 3.0 out of 5.0.
This is the point in our story that I started to get really excited. I just stared at the screen and thought, "You mean it is a possibility for me to switch? I can be the major that I originally wanted to be?" Crazy stuff, that's for sure. Well, I didn't want to be impulsive or anything. After all, this was pretty life changing. However, after much contemplation and advice I decided to switch. Two comments that particularly swayed my vote were:
"You might as well reach farther than you think you can and then even if you fall, you will have grown in the process." Said to me by my friend in the music education program, Sarah Hunsaker Machado.
(Interestingly, this comment reminds me of another quote from the Anne of Green Gables saga.)
"It's a no brainer to me, you can take education classes any time, what you can't get back is the talent development that you will have the opportunity to pursue." Said to me by my dear father.
So, there you have it. I am now a Vocal Performance major at BYU with two more years ahead of me. The turn has been taken. I am now rounding the bend. What lays before me is very hard to see at this point. And sometimes, like Anne, "I wonder how the road beyond it goes--what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows--what new landscapes--what new beauties--what curves and hills and valleys further on."
I guess I'll get to find out.

Saper vorreste from Un Ballo in Maschera-Giuseppe Verdi (b. 1813-1901)
Voi, che sapete from Le Nozze di Figaro-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b. 1756-1791)
Beau soir-Claude Debussy (b. 1862-1918)
Clair de Lune-Gabriel Fauré (b. 1845-1924)
Morgen-Richard Strauss (b. 1864-1949)
Der Gärtner-Hugo Wolf (b. 1860-1903)
The Metropolitan Tower-Lori Laitman (b. 1955)
Meadowlark from The Baker’s Wife-Stephen Schwartz (b. 1948)
The entire recital was about 55 minutes. I did the recital with another girl name, Gretchen Davidson. My portion of the program was about 24 minutes.