Strings Appreciation Post

So, have I mentioned lately how much I love string music? Anything played by an upright bass, cello, viola, or violin makes me happy :)

Some of you might remember that I play the violin. Well, I took a big ol' step out of my comfort zone and auditioned for an orchestra after five years of playing. After three months of worrying and practicing and worrying some more, I had the judges stop me halfway through the piece telling me I got in. Obviously I was happy, but after that amount of time practicing I wanted to tell them to sit back down and let me finish. Oh well.

Since then, orchestra has proven to be utter bliss. I have found people who understand what a masterpiece Bach's Cello Suites are (you can listen to them here), and aren't afraid to dive into deep conversation topics such as quantum physics and philosophy.

Speaking of Bach's Cello Suites, I am completely overjoyed to announce that I am finally learning them on the violin! They are my absolute favorite pieces, and I have spent about an hour working on the first suite this afternoon. (Today, I spent probably about three hours total practicing violin.)

Just to show how much I love violin, I took some glamour shots this evening. Enjoy looking through them!

Our First Snow

Wow! It has been a long time, hasn't it? I have been on blogging hiatus for the past couple of weeks because of all the craziness going on in my family: my great-grandfather past away, my first orchestra practices, and juggling it all with -you guessed it- my overly busy school schedule.

The craziest thing, however, has been our first heavy snow all winter long! Nine inches of snow has fallen in the past week, canceling school. Normally, this wouldn't affect my mom and me because of the whole "homeschool" thing, but having my sister home and the first snow all winter has proved to be a greater distraction than expected. 

Here's a candid photo I shot with my iPad:

Moment of silence for the ruler I lost while trying to measure the snow. It'll turn up. Eventually.