Movin' On Up!

Literally...second floor. haha! I've officially moved into my lovely new flat! :) Well, the stuff is in there anyway...all piled up. But it is there. Ugh! Despite Katrin's philosophy that it is a new adventure - which I wholly agree with - I do not particularly enjoy moving because I have had to do it EVERY YEAR. Plus, the circumstances this time weren't the happiest. Nonetheless it is a fabulous place and hopefully it'll be a fresh start. I just wish I didn't have to do this all over again in a year. Oh, well...not going to think about it! More to come later...and perhaps some pics, too. :) I am [FINALLY] going home either tonight or tomorrow for a little visit with the family.

Gratitude 107

Yesterday, I was witness to something a good friend reminded me of a few days ago when I was talking to him about praying: music is prayer. :)

I helped Chad out and sang for both traditional services at the church across the street. It was so heartening...even though I had to get up at 6am!...túl horán!...too early! It reminded me so much of the/my reason for singing. :)

Isten volt énel. God was with me. Isten van énel. God is with me...és nagyon szeretem énekelni...I love to sing! :)

P.S. I move into my flat this Thursday! Eek! 3 days! I CANNOT wait!

Over the Rainbow

Gratitude 106
I took a walk this evening across campus and saw the most beautiful, bold rainbow. It was unbelievable. It stretched in a perfect arch from one corner of campus to the other. You could even see slight traces of a reflection, too, forming a partial double-rainbow. Crazy! It wasn't even raining...just very dewy...it had rained early this morning and hung over glumly the whole day. Of course, I stood gawking for so long that when I finally decided to run back to the house to get my camera to capture it, the buildings eclipsed the sun by the time I was armed with the camera. Oh, well. Perhaps, that one was not meant to be captured... :)

I was talking to my friend (well, actually my mom's friend) Palma on the phone, and I'm not sure they believed me. My mom was next to her, and when she asked what I was doing, Palma told her I was chasing rainbows. haha! The weirdest part was that NO ONE was around. Seriously, it was a little eerie. It is like Kansas left, but I'm still here. It's been strange around here like that for the past couple days...yesterday, it monsooned for like 20 minutes, and when Q and I walked outside, it was sunny and la-di-da like nothing ever happened...except for the rivers of water still racing down the street to the drain and random whole trees knocked over like toothpicks. Weird!! We weren't sure how to react, and the people passing us on Main Street in their cars looked at us like we were martians or something because of our reactions of incredulousness towards whatever just happened.

....And so bored!!! No one here and nothing much to do...although today should be counted very productive...I did three loads of laundry, learned how to make origami roses, and worked on my Fulbright proposal. I should practice, but my right tonsil (yes, weirdly, only the right one) is swollen for some reason or another. It doesn't feel pleasant and seems not a good idea to force singing vibrations past it. Really, though, I'm going to go mad!! And it doesn't help much that I have these new keys on my keyring like a mean prank, taunting me, "Hehe! You have a new flat...but not till Thursday!" Argh!

This summer has been an odd one. Not sure what to think about it. I suppose it hasn't been awful...there have been its exciting moments, but I wouldn't count it as spectacular, either. It just...is. I don't really have any emotion toward it...and coming from me, that's strange!

Oh, P.S.! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince = brilliance! Harry on Felix Felicius (a.k.a. Liquid Luck) is freaking HYSTERICAL!!! I think that was my favorite part. hehe! ;)

A Home to Call My Own

Just a sign on the dotted line, the handing over of one huge check, and new keys are now jingling on my key ring! Yay!

Early this evening, Alexa (my new roommate) and I went to see our little flat in hopes that it would be ours for the next year. We signed papers, and our new landlord handed us the keys! Eek! This is exciting. It is quite a small place, but cute and will serve us well. And...our own balcony! :) I am sooo excited. As of this coming Thursday, we have full reign/access to our little place...they are finishing up some remodeling work first. Moving always sucks, but it will definitely be worth it. Now, I can finally feel like I have a "home" here at school rather than just a house I live at. However, our neighbors are now two Russian music professors at the conservatory...it shall be interesting! haha!

I hope to go home for at least a few days next week...I had hoped for a couple of weeks, but gotta take what I can get I suppose.

Gratitude 105
I am thankful that Q-sha rescued me on Tuesday. Time away from the house was needed. It was great fun...we made yummy chili and watched movies all night...however, I didn't sleep so well that night because the movies we watched gave me nightmares! Action/suspense movies before bed = not a good idea! Oh, well...it was a good time anyway. Also, I am thankful for the ridiculous times with Q and Chad at Tracy's musical...oh geez! Putting the three of us together only equals trouble! haha! Some brilliant memories, though! It's like Will, Jack, and Grace. And Q and I practicing our Karen (from Will and Grace) impressions: "What? What is this, honey? What is that your doing? Where's my juice box?!" hahaha! Brilliance!

For Mommy and Daddy:

I heard this, and it made me think of life the past few years...and life in the coming years. Love, your little songbird. ♥

Friday evening, I went with Tracy to Dayton to surprise Sarah at her musical. She is in Children of Eden. As far as she knew, I couldn't come because of apartment stuff I had to take care of...little did she know that the stuff I needed to do was postponed another week, so I could steal away to come see her. It was great fun. After her show we went out for a bite to eat, and I proved my family's mastery of the crane machine game. haha! ;)

Gratitude 104
This may be a little premature, so hopefully I am not jinxing anything, but Friday morning, Jerry, the guy for the lovely European-style flat called and then emailed us the lease! EEK! I am super excited! I saw this morning, too, that the sign had been taken down in front of the place. :) We will see it next Saturday, do the signing and deposit then, and then move in on the 1st. Yay! I cannot wait! :D

And a little bit of awesome Tracy, Sarah, and I found on YouTube. How fabulous of a story would this make?! haha!

Learning to Choose Your Battles

Life has a way of dishing up some crazy $#!%, and with every one, you have the opportunity to either grow and learn a new lesson (or finally understand an old one) or revert to playground rules of running from the cootie-infested boys, my fort against yours, and the infamous he-said, she-saids. Personally, I prefer to choose the former because a six-year-old mentality and pointing blame never gets you very far.

Life's been throwing a lot of these opportunities at me the past couple months. It hasn't exactly been the greatest of times in my world, and I have to say that it sucks to be a grown-up sometimes. I'm sure in the end, I'll be glad I endured these trials and will come out stronger than before, but right now, I almost feel I'd rather be reliving summer camp counselor days in Florida, which, I will graciously admit, were not my finest days. However, I walked away having grown from those experiences. Life can't be all roses because then the frolicking times would never be seen as a blessing but rather only mundane.

I think your whole life you are given practice at choosing your battles. Are you going to fight about who's right or just agree to disagree? Are you going to complain about calling the cable company or just do it and get it over with? Are you going to ask forgiveness or hold a grudge forever? Are you going to force the three-year-old to eat the egg salad sandwich or just let her eat the fruit if she's willing to actually eat something?

The hardest battle of all though, I feel, is when you know you are right, yet whatever you say is completely overlooked because it doesn't fit the overall consensus. You are unrightfully put in the wrong. So what do you choose? Fight it or let it go and move past the issue at hand? I will willingly admit my wrongs or mistakes, but it is rather infuriating to be an honest, level-headed girl who has to decide what's worth more...integrity or pride.

I'll choose integrity...because losing who you are is far too great a cost of being proven right.

Gratitude 103
Chad treated me to dinner at the Olive Garden tonight! My favorite! :) He is one of the best friends ever!! :) We have been needing some serious catching up on life, but he's been awful about answering messages, so he wanted to make up for it. :) Yay! It also lifted my spirits after a few tense days. Thank you, Chad!! Pretty sure I'd go crazy if it wasn't for Lynn, Chad, and Barb making sure laughter and fun stays swirling! haha!

Also...squirrels are PSYCHOTIC!!! They CREEP ME OUT!!! I have definitely almost hit so many...ON MY BICYCLE! (Only in my life would that happen, right? haha! Would make quite a story, though!) Seriously...they just hop out in front of your path when you are going full speed. They are frolicking through trees EVERYWHERE. And today, I saw one thunk itself into a trash bin and fling itself out again with a candy wrapper or something and scurry away. They are completely NUTS! I am totally freaked that one is just going to jump on my head and attack me! No joke...I've seen it happen to people around here! EEK!

Ruby Slippers

"All things are difficult before they are easy." - Thomas Fuller

This quote popped up on my iGoogle browser the other day. How appropriate, as these past couple months have not exactly been a breeze. But I suppose that you must endure the clouds and storms to get a rainbow.

Drama has been in grand abundance...I feel like the circles of drama in Grey's Anatomy is our life right now. Not cool. I pray very soon much of it will be behind us.

Apartment searching has hopefully come to an end. I shall know in about a week and a half. I found a beautiful townhouse with a wonderful landlord who was ready to hand me keys, a month of no rent, and build any closet I designed! But I stupidly said no because my roommate and I also loved a flat that held a greater convenience factor. It has to be a mutual agreement, too. I may have a lovely flat with my very own balcony and a two minute walk from door to conservatory. However, it was supposed to be ready to look at this Saturday and now will not be ready until next Saturday, which means I cannot go home as I had planned. :( It sucks to be a grown-up sometimes! Csak akarok menni ott honn! I just want to go home. All I'm asking for is a week or two before I have to start back to classes. Trying to live life in two places at once is not easy, especially when both sides are in big transitions, but I will learn to balance and make it work. Just practice for my career, I suppose.

On a happy note, I think I have had a huge break-through in my vocal production! :) It is VERY exciting! My high range is becoming like crystal. My low range is suffering a bit, but it'll settle again as I work with it. Nagyon szeretem énekelni! I love to sing!

For the Independence Day weekend, my friend Bradley came in from out of town. It was crazy! Block parties and cook-outs, 4th of July festivals, a parade, fireworks, a trip to the art museum... There was so much excitement I am not sure any of us knew what to do...it's been awhile since we've had such an eventful few days. It was quite a weekend.

Come the end of it, we were all kind of out of sorts...back to the life of errands, practice, cleaning, and a bit of restless boredom. I know I should enjoy the "nothing to do" time this summer because it certainly won't come very often after this, but it is not always all it is cracked up to be. I guess I like a schedule, a place to be, something that has to be done. However, I certainly do not enjoy the constant list of phone calls that must be made and trying to sort out life for the coming months. I have spent so much time on my cell phone lately that I'll probably get a brain tumor from it. I won't lie...I so much enjoyed not being attached to one while I was in Europe. Yes, they are great and convenient...but they very easily get out of hand and become a constant nuisance.

As promised, the pictures of me climbing a tree...even though that was a really long time ago!





And my parents with their new "toy":

Gratitude 102
I am thankful that my cousin Renee loaned my her pretty purple bicycle for the next year, so that I can zip back and forth to Barb's house for babysitting. Köszönöm szépen, Renee! :)