One day more...

Its true...music analysis has been taking over my life. Everyday in July, I have spent countless hours staring at little notes on many pages trying to come to some sort of conclusion why geniuses such as Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Brahms may have written each piece the way they did. This class has been a humbling experience for me because with each passing day, I realize that there is so much more about music that I don't know and what I think I know isn't really what these composers were really thinking when they penned these pieces long ago. Also, I realize that I need to work on my piano skills because trying to pound out even a few bars of these pieces has been kicking my butt.

On the positive note, I have made some great new friends in this class and I think this is because through trials, we get a little closer. We have laughed, some have cried, and tomorrow will be my triumphant end with my final presentation on Brahms's Intermezzo in E-flat. Its a beautiful piece but I must say that I won't be sad to say goodbye to it. So to all of you music majors who are thinking that you'll never take another theory class again, don't be fooled! Save your book and your notes because those will prove to be invaluable. Farewell theory class. Until we inevitably meet again...

Brahms

I am taking an advanced theory class this summer at CSU and we each have to do an in depth analysis and presentation on one major piece per week. My selection this week is Opus 118, No. 2 (andante teneramente) by Brahms. I studied this piece a little at Hope and I know you may be thinking "Why in the world would Sarah tell us about this?" I don't regularly pay for music (I am a library advocate, myself) but this piece is GORGEOUS! Even if you think solo piano repertoire is not for you, I guarantee this one will bring tears to your eyes. Just today taught myself how to use itunes and I downloaded this piece for 99 cents. It is WELL worth every penny! Let me know what you think after you listen. I heart Brahms.

V Necks

No one rocks the V Neck more than Kyle's brother Chris. I would say that Chris has enjoyed this syle of shirt for the last 2 years and wears them low or high V with no apologies. He has many V necks of all colors and yesterday while visiting us in Cleveland, Chris was able to expand his collection. After meeting our cousins Kate and Michael for lunch at Cheesecake Factory, Chris and I ventured over to Coventry (the hip and trendy area of the city) to the American Apparel store. We met up with his youth pastor Jon and his wife Sarah who were driving Chris back to NY and who ironically were wearing matching V necks like Chris. This made me laugh a lot so I thought you needed to see this picture for yourself. Can you tell that they love V necks? I sure can and I am excited to wear my new one too. Come back soon, Chris! We love you and your great sense of style!

Chris has graduated!

A few weeks ago, Kyle and I went to New York to see Christopher graduate from high school. He will be attending Hope College this fall just like we did!

No trip to New York would be complete without visiting the water fall so I put those in too.
While we were to Syracuse, Chris treated Kyle, Marley and I to tea at a really cool tea house downtown. My coconut tea was really good and the place was definitely unique. We were so happy to get to go and although these pictures are a little late, they still capture the fun of the summer. Congratulations, Chris! We are very proud of you!

Tour for a Cure

A few friends of mine from Hope are doing a 4,000 mile cross country bike tour in order to raise money for the American Lung Association. They started in Oregon about 50 miles away from the coast and are currently in Great Falls, Montana. They are looking to have people sponsor each mile of their trip at $50 per mile. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated to the American Lung Association for research purposes. If you know anyone who has been affected with lung disease including cancer, asthma, emphysema, etc., this is a great way to help out. I have a link to their blog on the side bar and I encourage you to learn more about their trip. They have just completed their first 1,000 miles! Keep up the great work Autumn and Jenny!

Much has happened

Within the past week, school has ended, I accepted a choral position in a new district, I have said a tough goodbye to my students and fellow teachers, Chris and Marley visited us in Cleveland, and I have traveled to Chicago to visit family and friends and I got to spend Father's Day with my dad. Its been great! So many exciting changes have come our way and its been so nice to share those with my family and friends that I have known for more than half my life. I have plenty of pictures to share, just not a way to download those here in Chicago. I will be traveling on I-90 for the next two days, first for a quick stop at home and then on to Syracuse for Chris's high school graduation. Hooray for being free to travel and visit...I couldn't be happier!

Thoughts on owning a home

Kyle and I are coming up on our one year anniversary as official home owners. We chose our house not only for its location but also because it was in "move in condition." Before we bought the house, we had the home inspector come and check it out and it passed with flying colors. We thought it wouldn't need much work or repairs. It was true that it needed maybe a new coat of paint in one room, but the rest seemed perfect.

Over the past year, we have replaced the fan and motor on the furnace. As I sit here writing this post, we currently have two plumbers, two trucks and a HUGE roto-rooter blowing raw sewage out of the basement. Kyle and I knew something bad was going on when we noticed one pipe in the basement with water coming up and out the pipe onto the floor. We thought it might have been extra water from the air conditioner since we turned it on for the first time this week. Unfortunately, we were very wrong. I was in the shower this moring with shampoo all over my hair when Kyle came running up the stairs telling me to turn off the water because sewage was coming out of the pipe into the basement. Luckily, we had the plumber here within the hour but this project is going to be much more costly than we anticipated. Oh the joys of home ownership. While eating sandwiches today while the roto-rooter was noisily growling the basement, I said to Kyle, "Happy Anniversary!"

Two years married!

This past Tuesday was our two year anniversary while Monday was my parents' 35th anniversary. As you can see from the post below, we celebrated last weekend at the Indy 500. On our actual anniversary, I had a choir and band concert that evening and didn't get home until 9:00. I am so thankful for Kyle and I love him more everyday.

Indy 500!

This past weekend, Kyle and I traveled back to Indianapolis to visit my family and attend the Indy 500. We had a GREAT time! We were seated at the first turn and our seats were amazing! We witnessed all of the accidents that took place and all in all, it was a very exciting race. If you have never seen Indy cars, the speed at which they race literally shakes you. All of us wore ear plugs because they are so loud. I sat by Sarah, Megan and Emily at the race and I loved how Sarah knew all of the women drivers (only 3 to be exact)and followed the race with such enthusiasm. I love them so much.

Before the race started, all of us checked out the displays and vendors in the middle of the track. I made Sarah and Megan get the classic picture in one of the race cars. I think Sarah looked a bit scared in the picture.



It was so much fun to visit with my parents and cousins. I remember it was only 3 summers ago that I lived with the Maars and when Kyle and I were driving into Indianapolis, it felt like home. Dean and Deb made us feel so welcome and we couldn't have asked for a better time.

Look how big the kids are getting!

We will miss you, Abbie!

Kyle and I have been so blessed to have our college friend Abbie here in Cleveland for the past two years. She has earned her master's degree in organ performance at Cleveland Institute of Music and will now be moving to Buffalo, NY for a position as organist and music director at a cathedral there.

Two weeks ago, Kyle and I went to the city to see her play her final recital. She plays that intimidating instrument with an incredible amount of skill and finesse and simply makes it look easy. She is such an incredible musician but more importantly, a true friend. We love her a lot and will miss her dearly.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you, Mom for believing in both of us and for pushing us to be the best possible people we can be. We love you and wish both our moms a VERY happy Mother's Day!

Craziness!

The children have been a little nuts this week. One of the 7th grade choir girls BIT another one this week! I NEVER would have thought I'd be dealing with biters at the middle school. In fact, this was the second biting THIS WEEK. We also had another huge fight in the hall where one kid accused this other of harboring terrorists and ran up to him and literally decked him in the hallway. The teachers around had to tackle the kids to get them off of one anther and even then they were still trying to kick and punch each other. Those are my school fight stories. Does this seem as bizarre to you as it does to me?

Our cousin was in Sunday's paper!

On Sunday, I often buy a local newspaper (The Plain Dealer) to read for fun. This past Sunday while Kyle and I were leafing through the paper, I came across a picture of a student from Hudson High School asking another student to prom. I remembered that the Wilkes went there so I looked closer. Sarah Wilke was the one in the picture! This picture and article was on the front page of the Metro section and this paper circulates throughout the greater Cleveland area. We were so excited! I called Sarah to tell her we found her prom invitation in the paper and she was embarrassed. However, there is no need to be embarrassed because both the article and picture are so cute that I HAD to share them with you. Here is the story.

Seniors outdo each other in creative ways to ask someone to prom
Posted by Laura Johnston May 05, 2008 11:14AM
Categories: Education

LYNN ISCHAY/THE PLAIN DEALER

Sarah Wilke jumps the fence during track practice to accept Kevin Potts' proposal to the Hudson High School prom. Kevin, a senior who works for the school's maintenance department, taped a sign to his John Deere Gator to surprise Sarah, a junior. At Hudson and other schools across Northeast Ohio, popping the prom question has become a public ritual.


It's gotta be big.

Public, maybe, proffering a keepsake. A gooey story for the girl to gush over, crazy enough for the boy to brag about.

The question: Will you go to prom with me?

In some teenage realms, it's not enough anymore to simply ask. In Bay Village, Rocky River, Hudson and Chagrin Falls -- and at high schools across the country -- teens write PROM in marker on balloons and in sausage on pizza. They create YouTube videos, plan scavenger hunts, make announcements on the P.A. system and hide notes in fortune cookies.

"It's senior year. . . . It's prom," said Billy Rillero, 17, of Hudson. "It's kind of like a social thing, comparing ways to ask with whatever everyone else does. You want to come up with something that's your own."

Billy surprised his friend Lauren Graf by sneaking a sign onto her seat at an Indians game.

"It was special," said Lauren, 18, who returned from the concession stand to find the sign, say yes and give Billy a hug. "Every girl just dreams of being asked to prom in a cute way."


Hudson students said they've been staging creative prom proposals forever, it seems.

But pop-culture experts say the trend spread nationally in 2005, when an episode of the MTV reality show "Laguna Beach" featured boys dressing up in gorilla costumes, fake-towing a car and carpeting a garage with rose petals to ask dates to the prom.

Inspired, teenagers began imitating their grand gestures. Because, see, prom is a Big Deal, costing an average of $1,200 per couple.

"It's just becoming more and more over the top," said Brianne DiSylvestro, of promspot.com, a Web site owned by wedding know-it-all The Knot Inc.

Here, the dance, often limited to seniors, takes place this month at venues like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Browns Stadium. And increasingly, the proposal is an integral aspect of the package.

"The asking, which used to be kind of private, is now part of the public," said Montana Miller, a Bowling Green State University pop-culture professor who researched the trend from "Laguna Beach" through Internet posts. "Everyone's going to see it, comment on it."

The teens who ask in the school hallway or over the phone, well, they may get teased for being boring.

That's why Hudson senior Alex Dawes used a wood-burning kit to write "Caleigh, Prom?" on a weighted wooden fish his girlfriend reeled in while they fished together.

Why Chagrin junior Billy Caster surprised Kate Yang after a lacrosse game by writing "Prom" on her sister's car. Why Bay senior Dan Flanagan stuck a note to a menu during an anniversary dinner with his girlfriend, Cory Sheehan. And why Bay senior class President Jon Rieke wrote "Prom?" on his stomach and flashed a friend in choir class.

"There has to be some kind of spectacle," said Rieke's mom, Joan. "Guys struggle. . . . You just can't call up somebody and ask them. That's too ordinary. You have to think up some special way to ask."

And, yes, it's usually the guys who do the asking, at least for prom. The girls get creative for Sadie Hawkins or Snowball dances.

"It's a lot different than 1985, I'll tell you that," said Rocky River's senior class adviser, Mark Wagner, a student in the '80s. "I've just been amazed at how in-depth these kids go."

Patrick Kilbane of Rocky River even got his friend's mom in on the surprise.

He gave her a hand-written note to hide in an egg in Paige Ferber's Easter basket during spring break in Florida. Paige opened the note Easter morning, cried, took pictures and called Patrick to say yes.

"I just wanted to have fun with it," Patrick said. "I can only ask someone to prom once."

Post its

Today I decided it was finally time to clean off the computer area at home and throw out some of the papers I had been saving including things like Christmas card envelopes, voters registration forms, old bills meant to be filed long ago, etc. In the midst of this, I realized one of the reasons why I'd been saving these things was to put addresses from friends and family in our address book on the computer. When we made our wedding guest list, my dad encouraged me to keep organized with an Excel spread sheet. This has been great for times like Christmas cards, birthdays and holidays. However, in the past 2 years many family members and friends have moved somewhere else so I write on post its.

My desk at school is a smattering of these sticky pieces of paper. This is how I live my life. I have been known to chart out lists (sometimes of things I already did so I could cross them out), calendars, lesson plans, directions, cooking ingredients, countless amounts of phone numbers and important dates on these notes. But, when you have so many, sometimes you think you have the information on file and throw them away. Today I had to ask Amber for their MI address AGAIN...this was probably the fifth time I have asked/written it down. Now all the addresses I can find are in the computer. If it crashes, well...I'm done for. Don't let post its take over your life (like that guy above) but really, they are so fun!

I almost have 6 credits towards the master's...

I just have to edit my paper and then I have 6 credits under my belt. I will spare you from the details of my paper entitled, "Truths and Inconsistencies: Nazi Recpetion of the Music of Schoenberg and Mendelssohn." I had to give a 30 minute presentation on my paper to my class this past week and I practiced for my dog Riley and he fell asleep belly up and started snoring. I hope it wasn't that bad. Today I am editting the final draft and away it goes! Hooray!

All my kids got Ones!

Today was my second official Solo and Ensemble Competition in my teaching career. I remember my mom and I driving all over the Chicagoland area to attend these nerve racking events and it was so neat to be on the other side as a choir director. I had 10 singers participate at Contest and every single one received a first place rating. I think we are doing things right at Madison.

Happy birthday, Riley!

OUr little buddy is a year old today! We love him a lot and we are glad he is a part of our family.

Our trip out West

We left on Good Friday for Las Vegas to visit Kyle's Grandma and returned this past Wednesday. It was truly one of the best vacations we have ever taken! Grandma's house is beautiful and it was so fun to wake up each morning to sunshine and 75 degree days. We spent our time with Grandma eating delicious food, going to a cool church for Easter, learning how to play video poker, doing a little gambling at some casinos, seeing Cirque de Soleil, visiting the Hoover Dam, visitng Lake Mead, and visiting the Grand Canyon. We even got to see Grandma win a Royal Flush at a huge casino on the strip called Treasure Island! She definitely has luck on her side. Here are some pictures that depict what a great time we had with Grandma.

Here's Kyle at the Hoover Dam.

This is the typical post card picture of the Dam. It's huge!

This is an engineering feat if you ask me. They are building a TALL bridge over Lake Mead (above the Dam) so cars need not drive through the dam to get from Nevada to Arizona.

Kyle and I decided to go hiking on a trail around Lake Mead. Isn't it gorgeous?

This is the view from Grandma's back yard. The fountain is so fun and I think its so great that you can see both Las Vegas AND the mountains!

This one is of Grandma in the back yard. I think it was a candid shot.

Kyle and Grandma on our first night at the casino.

Happy Easter!


The flower garden at the Bellagio.

Walking around on the Strip.


We left Grandma at Treasure Island for 40 minutes and she won the Royal Flush!


We've arrived at the Grand Canyon!

Kyle's working on his photography skills. What a beautiful place!


Look how close you can get to the edge. Yikes!

Hiking down one of the trails. See the snow and ice? I was pretty freaked about this.

These crazy people are about a foot away from falling to their death over the edge. It made me nervous to look at them.


Breathtakingly gorgeous! Sunset at the Grand Canyon.

Kyle and I had the BEST time and it was all possible because of Grandma. Thank you so much for being so kind and generous to us and for helping us plan this trip. We love you and can't wait to come and visit again!

And the week of craziness begins...

The snow is starting to melt outside and thoughts of spring are starting to be in the air. Tomorrow night, I have my class at CSU until 8:00. On Tuesday morning, I will be back at school at 4:15 a.m. to leave for the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. I went last year and it was a fun but not restful time. I am lucky to have many good students on my bus so I think it will be a good trip. We are returning on Thursday evening and then on Friday morning, Kyle and I will be leaving for Las Vegas to visit Grandma Cox. We are looking forward to that so much and we're hoping that its much warmer there than it is here. Let the traveling begin...

The HUGE snow storm

On Friday afternoon, the snow started. This continued through the night and all day on Saturday. We now have about 20 inches of snow on the ground. Its hard to believe that it was 68 degrees just a week ago. Kyle shoveled the driveway 4 times yesterday and it still wasn't enough to keep up with the snow. Riley has enjoyed jumping over Kyle's snow piles. Today it was sunny and it gave us time to dig out. Here are some pictures of our house.

The idea of Nation

In my class last week, we got into a huge discussion about the concept and importance of nation. I have thought about the idea of nationalism quite a bit since I studied music history in college. When I think about how I define myself in terms of culture, I have always thought "I'm an American." What does that really mean? Why is the idea of nationalism so important to us? Why is music so centered around the idea of nation?

The first thing that we must consider is the definition of nationalism and the definition of nation. The best definition that I could find for nation is "a politically organized body of people under a single government." I found 4 different definitions for the term nationalism: 1. patriotism (love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it), 2. the doctrine that your national culture and interests are superior to any other, 3.the aspiration for national independence felt by people under foreign domination) 4. the doctrine that nations should act independently (rather than collectively) to attain their goals.

These definitions left me a little more disturbed than satisfied. I could agree with the above definition of nation. However, if I went into a particular country and tried to characterize certain traits of that nation, I believe we would be at a loss with this definition. For example, I could tell you the different nationalities of Americans and describe our democratic government, but each region of the nation has different qualities and traits that do not necessarily match up. I find the definitions for nationalism particularly unnerving. As a music teacher, I follow the standards set by the national organization MENC which states that all students should know the words to the "Star Spangled Banner." I teach this song and "God Bless America" each year and make sure my students know every word in order to be contributing musical members of our American culture.

However, the more I read into the concept of nationalism, the more weary I become. If a country emphasizes the importance of nationalism too much, this creates moral problems. This belief in nationalism implies that certain characteristics are essential and that each cultural background is already uniquely different. Some call this essentialism. In essence, ethnicity predetermines (speaking musically) what you compose. The concept of nation seems to make no sense logically now. Should we be concerned about the amount of nationalistic values we instill in our children? How far is too far?