Change

Do you ever feel like you are making the wrong choices and the walls are closing in on you?  I had  something that felt like a panic attack last night while I was trying to sleep because I just feel like I'm making the wrong choices going into this semester.  I think it is just the idea of big change that freaks me out a little.  I'm afraid to mess up the life I have had.  I afraid to lose the people in my life I care for the most. I am afraid that by moving to Manhattan I will revert to the person I used to be, the person I worked very hard to get rid of.  That is the biggest concern I have.  I know I am going to be living with two great people and I have a lot of friends I can count on to lend me their ear if I need to talk but I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it, not even my girlfriend.  I feel like I have been dishonest with people because I haven't shared what's going on.  This weekend was a big eye-opener for me because last night I finally saw that by keeping everything in, letting it build up, I have started being the person I used to be.  I don't like it at all.  I guess it is a positive I could tell what was going on so now I can make sure to be open and honest.  It should be easy, right?  If only that were always the case.  With Love.

Janet

It is the weekend before finals week and just after dead week and I think dead week lived up to it's name again this year.  I had a final every single day except thursday, which was spent finishing my website for Exceptional Child.  It was a long week and it hasn't slowed down one bit.  I have to re-do my lesson plan final for my Core Teaching Skills lab because apparently I missed the memo on not using narrative books for second graders because it will "confuse them."I also have a take-home final due monday (our class was informed that if we simply turn it in we will get an A) and then two finals next week.  So far my finals have gone pretty well.  I received two B's on my practice Praxis exam but that is actually a good grade for the class from what I understand.  That put my grade in that class at a 90.8; I have heard that to receive and A in the class you need a 94, but that has yet to be confirmed.  I am ready for summer.  How about everyone else out there?

The real reason I wanted to blog today was because I heard an amazing story yesterday during my Culture and Language class that I just wanted to share.  We had a pizza party to celebrate the end of the year and to just chat with everyone and say our goodbyes.  We had a lot of cool stories that were shared throughout the semester because it is a diverse class with a lot of different backgrounds and races being represented.  It was nice just to say thanks to the people in the class for sharing their views and thoughts because sometimes it is hard to share your views in a class like that.

One of the men in the class, Pedro, hails from the Congo, by way of Portugal.  He brought a guitar and sang us two songs that he had written himself, to share his life stories.  One was in the native language of the Congo, and the other in Portuguese so you could not really understand him, but the emotions conveyed in the song translated just the same.  The first song was written about a moment that changed Pedro's life.  It occurred during Apartheid in South Africa. Pedro became friends with a caucasian woman named Janet, who had been fighting against the apartheid; it was a very rare thing at that time to see a white woman protesting and fighting against this view.  Pedro had been visiting Janet one day when she received a package in the mail.  She had been expecting one and was excited for it so she asked Pedro to stay for awhile.  He couldn't stay so he left to be on his way.  Moments later, as he was leaving the building, he heard a loud noise and the building shook.  Inside the package that Janet had received was a bomb.  It killed her and her young daughter.

To hear Pedro share this story was so moving, as was his beautiful voice and song.  I am sure some of the details are wrong because it was hard to really focus and remember because everyone was just caught up in it but that story is fairly accurate.  It was such a powerful moment in our class and one you will rarely find in classes these days.  It definitely made getting another endorsement in ESOL worth it, just that moment.

I hope everyone is getting through their semesters okay and are still plugging away because summer is just around the corner!

Crazy Talk

This week has been perfect. Well, almost. I spent the whole time eating good food, relaxing, watching season 4 of Dexter and seeing most of my favorite people in the world. I worked on homework here and there (should have done that more) and enjoyed the weather. It rained all week in Emporia and I honestly wouldn't have had it any other way; sorry everyone who was hoping for rain, I finally got to enjoy my rainy days with Emily. I also got a whole bunch of new music that I am excited to listen to. I am finishing up a long day working on my PLT Packet for Educational Psychology and then I will finally be ready for class tomorrow. This week has just made me want to say crazy things, but I enjoy a little crazy talk every once in a while. I hope everyone had a good break from the stress, rigor and anxiety that school brings; I know I did. And then some.

With Love,

Ian

The Head and The Heart

Josh McBride and Oh, Virginia by The Head and The Heart

Now I'm a stranger in someone else's home

All that I'm asking for is a place to call my own

Just a place to call my own.

The Head and The Heart were such a great live show. It was a pretty chill concert but they have great harmonies and they seem like really wonderful people, enjoying what they do for a living. Enjoy this acoustic performance.

Smooth

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I haven't blogged in awhile because there hasn't been anything noteworthy to blog about. Life has been going smoothly lately, which has been wonderful. The month of February and March have been very busy so far, keeping me on the road almost every weekend but I have had a blast. I got to see The Head and the Heart for Emily's birthday and they put on a great show at The Granada. Yesterday I went to see The Avett Brothers perform at The Orpheum theater in Wichita and I can say that it was quite possibly the best show I have seen. They played almost 30 songs and played a few unplugged tunes in there. This weekend was as close to a perfect weekend as you can get. I hope everyone else is doing well out there, especially with spring break coming up!

Early Birthday Present

So many of you know that in March I will be going with Emily, Brett and Hannah to see The Avett Brothers in Wichita, which I am so excited for! The Orpheum will be such a great venue to see a band like them. It will almost be perfect. However, ever since I saw Incubus play at Red Rocks Ampitheater outside of Denver I have wanted to go to another show there. If you haven't ever been there or seen pictures of this place, please check it out. It is probably the most beautiful venue I have ever seen, rivaling Royal Albert Hall.

Of course when I saw The Avett Brothers were playing Red Rocks I immediately asked Emily if she wanted to go see them again (knowing full well that she wouldn't say no to that question) and then started planning the trip. But I also knew that my parents enjoy The Avetts as much as I do so I asked them to go as well. And to make a long story short, the four of us are going to see the concert at the end of June for my birthday! We are going to stay in Fort Collins with Andy and Sherri one night to see their family because we don't get to see their kids very often.

The day of the show we are going to travel through Big Thompson Canyon up to Estes Park, into Rocky Mountain National Park and over Trail Ridge Road into Grand Lake, shop a little, travel up through Winter Park, Berthoud Pass, down through Idaho Springs, and then come out of the mountains right at Red Rocks, just in time for the show! My goodness doesn't that sound amazing? Just to make my mom even more happy, we got a hotel about five minutes from Colorado Mills Shopping Center, which is host to one of the biggest Eddie Bauer Outlet stores. I really know how to convince them to go on a trip! So that is my good news of the evening. I hope everyone is having a spectacular weekend.

Valentine's Day

So tomorrow is Valentine's Day, which is a pointless "holiday." I just read that people will spend upwards of $17 billion on gifts, dinner, and other things on their significant others. Why? Are there not enough designated holidays for gifts already? What's even worse is when people expect extravagant, out-of-this-world gifts. If anything, Valentine's Day should be a day of simple gifts that are personal. So what did Emily and I do for the day? We got each other simple gifts and spent the evening watching movies. Perfect! Many people asked me what I got her and when I responded that I got her screwdrivers, I could tell they wanted to just say "What the hell are you thinking?" (I got a lint roller) I was thinking that we don't need to spend money to show each other we enjoy each other's company. But I thought, what else could I do for Valentine's Day? Well Emily, here is another gift that will hopefully make you laugh at the silliness of "romance."

Gamble Chocolates and Antacid Hearts! (Skip to 3:42)

Bacon!

Happy Valentine's Day!