I Have Moved!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have moved my blog to this new site! :) Hope you'll all follow me over there!

Hello Finals Week

Sarah, Stephanie, Mika, and I out Black Friday shopping.

Somehow, finals week is already here. In this past month, school has been crazy with all the final papers and end of the semester finals. It was great to be able to go home for Thanksgiving break and spend it with my family. And yes, I even went out to go Black Friday shopping at 11 PM Thanksgiving night with my friends from church. However, it was definitely our last year as it was freezing and we are well, getting old. (I normally try to be in bed between 11 and 12 pm!)

Morgan and Kate visiting Heidi and I
at Celebrate Christmas!

Somehow, I ended up celebrating my 21st birthday. I felt as if my birthday had just snuck up on me. I legitimately did not realize that it was my birthday until my friend reminded me a couple days beforehand. Normally I'm all about celebrating my birthday. I ended up being stuck in the car driving back from Northern California back to Los Angeles for 8 1/2 hours. Normally it takes me about 6 hours, but of course with the holiday traffic, it took much longer.

All last week, it was crazy with Celebrate Christmas rehearsals, but overall, the performances this past weekend were great! We had 3 concerts and although it was tiring, it's hard to believe that it was the last Celebrate Christmas concerts I would ever be a part of.  Celebrate Christmas is probably my favorite choir concerts of the year.  My family comes from out of town to hear us all perform and the production is something that you would not believe!

Before I close out this post, I just have to share 2 things! This weekend when my family was all in town we headed out to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles to go to the Japanese American National Museum where a couple of my relatives work. It was really cool going through the exhibits and hearing my own relatives talk about their experiences.  While we were in Little Tokyo, we were able to go walk through the little shops and we came across a Macaroon shop! Look how beautiful these are!

Via Instagram

Oh, and can we talk about how awesome this birthday cake my family got me?!

Via Instagram

Exciting News!

Every May, Bel Canto goes on a music tour.  This year we will be going to Northern California (the day after I graduate!) and we will be there for almost two weeks.

HOWEVER...

I am so excited to say that we have officially announced that Bel Canto will be going to Poland on a Music Missions Trip!  Myself and some AWESOME ladies will be leading the choir on this international adventure.  I am so excited to see what God has planned for us as we begin making plans and get all of the logistics together.

So, here's a few basic facts about Poland to give you an idea about the missions trip I will be going on.

• 97.8% speak Polish
• 89.8% Roman Catholic (75% Practicing)
• 38,383,809 people in Poland (38,041,430 people in California)
• Members of the European Union: signifies political and economic stability

Bel Canto will be partnering with Next Generation Missions.  This group takes choirs to Poland, Jamaica, Scotland, and across the USA.  Their desire is to help students see the mission field and to allow students to deepen their understanding of God's calling for their lives as musicians.

Vera Bradley

It's no secret to my friends and family that I have a love for Vera Bradley products.  I just love the bright colorful patterns, and flowers are my favorite! Some of my favorite VB products are the large duffle and the Grand Traveler weekender bag.

This summer I went to Boston, and they had a VB store there! Let me tell you... I was in heaven!! (We have a VB store in my home town, but now that I'm out here in LA, the closest one is about an hour away, and then you have to factor in the LA traffic.)

Vera Bradley store in Boston
Via Instagram

Now that the holiday season is approaching, I'm beginning to get a lot of emails about their sales and new winter patterns coming out! Definitely need to make sure I only look at the website instead of spending all my money!

**What are some of your favorite brands??**

Hello Fall!

Here in LA, our fall starts a little bit later than most places.  This weekend, it was in the 80's and I was wearing shorts. However, fall has finally arrived and it is raining and everyone has taken out their boots and scarves.

For me, this means breaking out the crock pot and enjoying a delicious (and healthy!) home-made meal.  (For what I'm making tonight for dinner, check out this earlier post with the recipe!)

At times, I wish fall would look something like the east coast, or my house... the leaves changing colors and falling, the cold brisk air starting at the beginning of October, and everything decorated for fall.  But I do love living in LA.  Where else can you go to the beach at the end of October, and we do have Disneyland and many other things.  But in all honesty... I just can't wait for Thanksgiving week to arrive. Then all of the holiday festivities will have officially started.

**What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?**

Top 5 of October

This month has just flown by! I honestly can't believe that November begins this week.  This month was full of lots of papers for school, multiple choir concerts, and me finishing my senior thesis paper! Well... almost.  Although, throughout the midst of school and choir, there were a lot of fun times.

Since I am not able to update my blog as much as I would like to, I'm going to start doing "Top 5's" (in no particular order) for various things going on in my life and it's also just an easy way to do a quick, but informative update.

Via Instagram

1. By the end of this month, I will have all the parts of my "Intent to Graduate" form filled out and turned into the school! It's hard to believe that these 4 years at APU have flown by so quickly.

2. Bel Canto performance have begun for the school year, and I am so blessed to have these ladies in my life.  It's so great to be able to worship and minister alongside them, as well as the other 40 ladies 3-4 times a week.

Via APU Bel Canto Facebook

3.  Like mentioned already, Bel Canto performance have begun! Be sure to check out our Facebook to see photos, upcoming concerts, and much more exciting information about our plans coming soon!  

4.  Meet Jen! We've had the opportunity to take at least one class a semester together, however this semester we have 3 classes.  It's been great getting to know her even better and I'm so excited to live with her after we graduate!  

Studying at Starbucks on a Sunday afternoon
Via Instagram

5. In the program that I am in at APU, I have been given the opportunity to overlap a little bit of graduate school with my undergraduate work.  I am so excited to be starting this next step in my journey and get started on doing what I want to do... which is teach little children!

Surviving

People always say that senior year is always the best year. You plan your life so your senior year is always the easiest. However it's always the busiest in the sense that you are on a deadline for everything. From making sure you graduate on time and have enough units and you've taken the right classes to making sure you have a plan for after graduation, whether it be a job or graduate school, to where you're going to live, it all comes down to surviving and getting through it all.

I always seem to bite off more than I can chew.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love everything I am doing.  I wouldn't be happy if I wasn't busy doing what I am doing.  From working on Bel Canto (BC) things to going to class, taking my online classes, and making sure I still have some time to breathe and relax a little, it's still a lot.  But I still love it. And in all honesty, I'd rather be super busy all the time and enjoy it, rather than having a lot of extra time on my hand and not use that time wisely.

Now that I'm onto my 4th week of school, I am slowly but surely, getting into the swing of things and just my daily/weekly schedule.  I honestly wouldn't change anything the way this semester is going for the world.  Even though I glance at my monthly calendar on my wall and start having mini panic attacks...

I know that through it all, God is going to help me get through it all, no matter what. Even if things don't go my way. I just have to remember to trust in Him.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will direct your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6