Birthday!

My dad had his birthday this past Thursday, and I wanted to just make a quick post in honor of it! We had a small family celebration for him on Friday once everyone was home. :) As the year is coming to a close - or beginning to - I'm starting to realize how soon I will be gone yet again!

Lighting the cake!

A bit of craziness...

Yum!

xoxo
mary beth

This High School Stuff

Good news! I will be attending college in the fall! After too much time, I finally made my decision. :) If you want to know the specifics, feel free to contact me. However, I am not about to list them all for the entire world and its subjects to lap up. There are still plenty of details to work out, which you will surely hear about at one time or another. In the mean time, I have to finish out the school year. Which I am not so enthusiastic about at this point... summer, feel free to come now!

Prom is a thing that happened. I think that it is pretty self-explanatory; it's your high school staple. I took the day off from school (as is the custom for all, even the guys, who need all of fifteen minutes to get ready) and got ready with friends. We got our hair done, ate lunch, dressed, slathered goo on our faces, and took part in staring at little boxes with our faces stretched until twitching made it impossible to continue the hope that the beauty of youth could be preserved. Which led to these:

And then we actually WENT to prom, and good times were had by all! You know, dancing and such.
Driving test - after much delay- this Friday. Wish me luck!

xoxo,
mary beth

And the point of this is...

It's been some time since I last wrote, so here are a few pictures to sum some of it up:

We flew to Chicago for my final audition, where I did not take pictures of the area itself but of something involving food, as to be expected. :) 

We also stopped at the Boring Store, which had this amusing display in the entrance...

Jumping ahead, I had Irish coffee in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

New glasses! A bit different, but they're really starting to grow on me.

The Hobbit came out on DVD, and I now own it. ;) Big day in my life...

Went prom dress shopping and stopped for dinner, where I found this HUGE curly fry! I thought it was extreme, till I came home and searched online to see if it was a big deal. Not as much as I thought, really. Still. Prom dress pictures will [hopefully] come in a few weeks, with me in it, of course!

In conclusion, food and purchases. What you don't see are the actual things I spend the majority of my time doing...

all the best,

mary beth

Heading Out

It would probably be a good idea to write about this past weekend before the next one starts! My weekend, by the way, begins today. Orchestra rehearsal beckons. ;)

Setting out (last) Friday morning, my mom and I took a plane to Atlanta, where we arrived after dealing with the first round of ,"Yes, I bought a seat for my instrument." Picking out our rental car, we drove north and pulled off the highway to stop for a late lunch when a sign promised Chick-fil-A was at that exit. To our surprise, we found it was actually the original Dwarf House, complete with a dwarf door!

After I actually went in, the man sitting at a  table across from the  door was staring at me with a mixture of disgust and confusion...  

The ride continued...

And we stopped to visit family for dinner! Another hour in the car and we finally came to our hotel. The following morning we left early for my audition - the purpose of the trip - where I performed, talked to professors and students, toured the campus, and took a theory test; pretty much the standard. It was rather cold, and began snowing while we were there - with thunder! Quite odd, as I had never experienced such before.

To celebrate, we stopped at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (which we do not have where I live). YUM!

After a short time back at the hotel, we got back in the car and headed north to meet my grandparents for dinner. At this point we were in North Carolina, and I was glad to see mountains again, even if they were in the distance!

Sunday we drove back to the airport, stopping at several places, including the Jockey Lot, on the way. In case you don't already know what it is, this is your classic American flea market. :) It was absolutely freezing when we arrived, and there were still some vendors setting up as we walked through. I did get (yet another) pair of sunglasses... who can beat $5?!

xoxo,
mary beth

Logically...

The majority of my postings are a conglomeration  of highlights; I wish I could say that this was not one of them. Alas, it is, so perhaps I should make it a goal for the next to focus on a particular experience. Almost a month has passed, and how do I pick the best bits of it all? Why, with what few pictures I have to [loosely] link them together.

Mid-month, we finished up the first semester of school, which meant midterms were over for my full-year classes! Not only were we left without homework, but were gifted with a five day weekend. To what end, I really don't know. School board logic is typically logic-defying. I'm not complaining, though. I spent the days visiting with old friends, drinking too many hot beverages, reading, playing music, listening to music, watching films, enjoying family time... what else does one do as a teenager? Out of all this, one of the few pictures I have is this picture of my milkshake from a '50s style diner. And I questioned the school board's logic.

(So I suppose I had cold drinks, too...)

Next important time frame was this past weekend, which I have to admit was more stressful than the last. After switching classes upon our return to school, I went south to terrify a few judges. No, really. I had my first college audition. Admittedly, it was not as intimidating as I feared, but I have also heard that this school's auditions are pretty "chill."

Leaving Friday afternoon in good spirits... we left earlier than planned with the threat of snow. And it did! Thankfully, it was just enough to be pretty and not slick the roads. 

Upon arrival at our hotel, I asked where I could practice and was told the business or fitness center. That is where the exercise-machine-turned-music-stand comes in... 

Post-audition! I didn't think to take a picture until after my viola was back in its case, but at least it's there. (You'll have to use your imagination.) My instincts are telling me it went reasonably well - knock on wood. Let's not jinx it, for those of you who put faith in such rituals. One down, two to go! They also gave me a muffin as I left the room. That's a good sign, right?

cheers!

mary beth

Happy New Year!

Not to worry - I won't make you suffer through endless resolutions or a recap of my entire year. It'll be enough to cover my winter break! It's kind of like a last hurrah before school starts back tomorrow. Prep for Christmas at my house looked something like this:

{Cookie baking!}

{My brother being himself!}

{Lights and a dusting of snow!}

{Present wrapping!}

Christmas Eve, we all went to church (I in my dirndl) and came home with a surprise guest. He had shown up to the service soaked through, in need of a dry (warm) place to spend the night. In the morning, we all woke and opened gifts, ate my mom's sweet bread, and my mom and I worked on dinner. Afterwards, our guest departed, courtesy of my dad's taxi service. (In case you were wondering, he doesn't really have one. A taxi service, that is.)

{All of the stockings!}

{Thanks, Mom!}

I went with my mom and a friend to see Les Mis (and I had gone with other friends to see The Hobbit a second time...), which we all found fantastic. My hair was cut, as you know, and my family and I went to Philadelphia for a day.

{Visiting Independence Hall}

New Year's Eve, I headed out to play for a local wedding and returned home for the countdown to midnight! We ate well, loudly rang in the new year, and my brother and I each decorated gingerbread:

{My house}

{My brother's caveman!}

Happy New Year!
mary beth

P.S. The minion and I also watched Despicable Me at one point :)