Not a whole lot to report, but I was very excited about something Madison found today --- a poster that advertised for a club - the law wives club - I was so excited to have another way to make friends, and to know some girls who know "what I'm going through" with being married to a law student. They have different events and such, the first is lunch on Monday at a local soup/sandwich shop.

Speaking of which, it's quite an adjustment having Madison so busy! He has been working so hard since last Wednesday. I have been trying to get more students, but it's a slow process! I am so happy he is exactly where he needs to be, he seems to love it so far. I am starting to get into a routine, and we're figuring out which days I drop him off and which days he takes the car and such. It just takes a few weeks I'm sure to figure all that out!

Orchestra rehearsal was fun - I met some nice people - it will be good to have something to force me to practice/keep up performing.

Well, I'm pretty tired!
Lizzie

A busy Sunday & a blog makeover!

*** First of all, what do you think of the new layout? Too difficult to read? I can change that easily by adding white behind the words...let me know and be honest! It won't hurt my feelings :-)

Random fact of the day: I have 15 mosquito bites on my legs and have hardly stepped outside in the past few days except going to and from my car (the weather has been HOT and muggy) and Madison has 0 and has spent more time outside...go figure! I cannot stop itching them and look like a child because I have band aids all over my legs...needless to say, I wore jeans to orchestra rehearsal today, not shorts...haha.

Madison is on the phone, and I decided it would be a good time to blog, since I was just browsing blogs, listening to the POURING rain, and being serenaded by one of my Ella CDs. It has rained a lot lately, which has made me happy. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I love rain and storms. They put me in a good mood...haha!

I had a busy Sunday today --- it was fun though! We went to church at Christ Pres, the director of RUF from Ole Miss spoke and it was good. It was definitely a message I needed to hear. It was kind of one of those "shift a lot in your seat" type sermons. Not like I can ever sit still through anything without shifting or bouncing a leg...but I guess for me, it was some extra shifting. :-)

Madison and I had a nice, relaxing afternoon and I made breakfast food around lunch time because it was impossible to find a parking spot anywhere in the square to go to Bottletree, but it worked out just as well, because we were both wanting a big breakfast and I love making breakfast food, so it worked out well! He's good at scrambling eggs and such, and it's fun to cook together sometimes! I haven't quite mastered multi-tasking while cooking...I've had a few minor kitchen disasters, but no fires...yet...haha. :-) I'm learning though!

This evening was the first rehearsal for the Oxford/Lafayette/University Orchestra as they call it. It was fun! I miss the caliber of the Wheaton College Symphony orchestra, but I obviously knew it would be that way, so I wasn't disappointed at all if that makes sense. It will be fun! I met some really nice, friendly people. There's a grad student (violin performance major) girl from Beijing, China that is really sweet and wants to get together sometime. We may play some duets or something sometime. The guy sitting behind me teaches piano at the Methodist church in town and wants to hand out some of my business cards for violin & viola students, so that was exciting.

I am a little discouraged at the lack of interest in violin or viola lessons around here. It really depends on the area you're in, and I'm hoping soon I will hear from more people. It's a slow process. It's a pretty posh area, so you'd think it would be really common for people to want their kids in stuff like music lessons. As I learned in pedagogy, different areas respond to different types of advertising. I am getting worn out and running out of ideas. I have:
-Contacted all schools (public & private & preschool/kindergartens & sent them business cards/flyers)
- Advertised with posters around town
- Contacted everyone I have found that is in the least bit connected to music in Oxford
- Advertised in the newspaper
- Advertised with the school I'm teaching for 1 day a week, and with the music store in town.


If anyone has ANY ideas that I did not list, I am more than welcoming your ideas :-)

Well, time to go check on Madison - he's working hard on homework now and off the phone. He starts law school tomorrow morning! :-o

Lizzie

I had a scary audition today

I auditioned for a gig quartet today consisting of Ole Miss professors and one really good student (but sometimes with rotation, it's all profs). There are basically no violists in town, so there are a handful of trios but not really any quartets. The professors were really good and I was quite nervous about playing today - we read through Mozart, Beethoven, Ives, Dohnanyi, and many more. Some of it was really difficult music, and I haven't practiced all that much since I finished at Wheaton. I made it! I think they were somewhat pleased. I am a terrible sight reader, so I had to really concentrate, wear my glasses, and COUNT nonstop. :-) I am SO excited about playing with a group regularly and playing gigs and maybe a recital! I didn't realize how important being in chamber groups and orchestras were until I left Wheaton. The people are really nice.

I guess I haven't written about how I am going to be playing in the Ole Miss orchestra. I will rehearse with them once a week on Wednesdays and play in the concerts. I'm excited about this because I will hopefully make some friends and some connections, as well as keep up my 'chops' and have some very non-competitive playing (compared to playing in the orchestra at Wheaton). I am thankful for the experience I had at Wheaton, it's such an amazing orchestra, but it's time to move on to something a little less stressful. I'm too competitive and that caused for a very stressful few years. I also had some interesting personality conflicts with certain members of my section. We'll just leave it at that! Basically, I'm not in it to be principle this time, so now I can have fun and enjoy the music! :-)

Ole Miss has a music grad school and a few profs who play (including one of the quartet members), so I will fit right in. I'm not the only non undergrad in there. Plus I'm only a year older anyways! First rehearsal is Sunday! Normally its Tues, Wed, and Thurs (and I will only go Wed) but it's the kick-off rehearsal and pizza night. I'm both extremely nervous (because I don't know anyone) and really excited. :-) It'll be nice to know some other music people.

Well, I'm pretty tired...the "audition"/reading was 2 1/2 hours...that's a long time for me to keep my concentration on one thing!

Oxford is pretty

Here's some pictures of Oxford and some descriptions of some of my favorite places -- it's a really neat town.

Clay Canvas: I don't have a picture of it, but Clay Canvas has been so much fun! It's on one of the main drags, and I love to paint pottery with friends, although it is usually expensive so I never did it more than once a year. It's so cool because the price on the ceramic here is what you pay, instead of a $5 painting fee or whatever they usually slap on at most places. I painted a welcome sign for $8.00 and they had a bunch of stuff, even mugs, for like $5 and under. It's an inexpensive activity to do with friends and I am very excited about it. Here's a welcome sign I painted (still lacking the leather string I will buy soon)

Here's the welcome sign:


Here's salt & pepper shakers that match some serving bowls I have, that I did in Destin with the Taylors:


So if you ever visit me in Oxford and feel like painting pottery, I love it and could go 3x a week and not get sick of it! :-) Probably not the smartest use of money...so I'm not going to do that :)

We'll start with the center of Oxford, where all the awesome local places are and all the students hang out. The Square is a well known place, filled with boutiques and amazing restaurants and such. I love hanging out down there and browsing in the shops (key on browsing...) :-)
Here's some pictures of the Square from the Oxford website -- not sure why they took it on such a gloomy day, but you get the idea:



One of my favorite places to hang out with Madison (gasp! a bookstore! who would have thought?) Square Books is an awesome bookstore...I can't wait to take my brother-in-law Matt there when they visit. Square Books has $1 ice cream we got once - it's a fun cheap date :) The store has a neat layout, and the building is awesome. Off Square books is also very cool. That has a lot of used books/rare copies/signed copies, cookbooks, gifts. etc. And Barristers Books in the back, where Madison is buying some of his books. The law students apparently run it -- the books are apparently cheaper. So here is a few pictures of Square Books:




The center of the square


Places to go while in Oxford:

City Grocery (Restaurant)

Amazing food, eclectic atmosphere. We loved going here when the Taylors took us - it's definitely a favorite.


Old Venice (Restaurant)

Amazing pizza & pasta place with good lunch deals. We both love pizza, so when we go out on occasion, we frequent Old Venice. I love the brick walls and colorful lamps inside.


Bottletree Bakery (Bakery/Deli)

Oh my goodness, we love going here every Sunday for a special treat. Bottletree is hands down my favorite place in Oxford. Their baked goods are so cheap - we love their 94 cent huge loaf of Sourdough bread. On Sundays, I fluctuate between getting the Honey Cream Cheese danish and the Ham & Cheese Croissant. Both are huge and more than I can eat. Their coffee is really good too. It's a really artsy place, I love it, very unique.

Proud Larry's is also a fun place to go for pasta, really good calzones (sp?), etc.


Handy Andy BBQ is awesome BBQ and banana pudding - it's a really old place!


Of course you have to take a drive out to William Faulkner's house and at least walk around - the grounds are really pretty. For a small fee (I think $5) you can tour the inside of the house.


And campus is also a nice place to take a walk
Most of these pics were taken on our visit early this spring

Here's the law school through the trees: (the ugliest building on campus wouldn't you know - haha)


The Lyceum



Ventress Hall

And last but not least...the Ford Center of Performing Arts, where hopefully I will be spending some time :-)



The Gertrude Castellow Ford center for the performing arts is where the first presidential debate will be held here in Oxford! I am pretty much going to be a hermit and go to the grocery store in advance, because this town is going to be SO insanely full!!! Students have a chance at getting tickets, but I don't know how likely that would be. I'd love to go, but I'm not so sure that is possible.

Well, hope gave you a little glimpse of where I am living :)
Liz

Today is my 1st day of teaching

Although I have been certified in Suzuki pre-twinkle and books I-IV and taken 2 other pedagogy classes and had taught a total of 7 students before now, I have never started a student! They've always been remedial. I have all the training, it's just a matter of putting it to use (which...makes me really nervous) I have my first student today at 4:30. My first student is a sophomore in HS boy and I don't think he's ever had a violin lesson. I think it's so cool that he wants to start, and it will be an unusual case...I can't use the "bunny hand" and the "fox" and all the other child like cutesy terms that I use on the little ones, but it'll be very interesting and props to him for starting at this age! I'm excited to start him today and the other kids tomorrow.
I'll blog later about how it goes! I'm nervous, but as Bekah told me, I have the training and need to stay confident.
Liz

Homesick

I have had some really tough days lately! I'm really trying to keep my head up and be strong, but I have been having a really hard time. I'm obviously happily married, and thankful for the situation I have, my wonderful husband, family, the house I have, the jobs I'm earning, etc...so with that to say...

I love my 1 friend I have been able to hang out with so far, she has been such a relief for me to have. She has been so sweet to me, and has kept me company and showed me Oxford and for her I am very thankful. In another way, it is so hard after living with or near my best friends for four years and have friends around every summer, and come to a strange place where I feel like I don't really fit in is really difficult. People are different, it's culturally different. I'll get used to it, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just different. It takes time, but I won't be in school meeting people, so meeting people with similar interests is going to be more difficult but not impossible. I will be happy to meet some wives of law students, but I also want some friends of my own if possible. I realize that this just happens, but as my sister informed me today, the first year out of college is really difficult.

I have been struggling with a lot lately, and I think a lot of it comes from home sickness. As I was explaining to Madison today, it's hard to not have a home to go back to with my mom and my dad together in a place that I've spent time in. My dad is selling the townhouse (which I hated anyways) and he moved to Normal and is renting a house near his girlfriend and is doing consulting. It's really difficult to think the next time I visit my dad, I will be seeing a new place. I have lived a lot of places, but Michigan still seems like the most home place I have, although we no longer have the condo or our house I had from Jr. high on. It's just something I need to come to grips with and realize that I can't change it, but I can try to be positive and happy.

I miss my family & friends a lot, and familiar places. I miss having so much in a close proximity, and I miss being only a few hours from all of my extended family except my dad's parents. I think most people go through this, but I just hate the feeling that at any moment I could burst into tears (and many moments I do). I know I will be fine and get used to it, but it's just a super hard adjustment. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be, and I know if I were in a different place I would be just as sad and confused...I'd appreciate your prayers and thoughts, I am trying to pull out of this but it's only getting worse at the moment! I have faith that it will improve soon.

There are also aspects of Oxford that I already love (like I posted in an earlier post) so I don't hate it or resent moving here, it's just a huge adjustment!

I don't mean to be so emo, but I just needed to be honest with what is really going on - it wouldn't be a true blog otherwise!
Liz

I have been enjoying the break from the heat! It has been really nice here lately. A few days ago, I ran across a website of a Kindermusik teacher here in Oxford. I emailed her, and she emailed back, excited to know of a new music teacher in town. I observed a class taught by her, and sat in her kitchen talking with her for about an hour. It was so nice to make a new friend/contact. She is originally from Evanston (a suburb of Chicago) and it was so nice to get to know her. Her husband is a piano professor at Ole Miss and they moved here 9 years ago. She gave me a video to watch and told me she would be interested in hiring me for a part time position teaching music in a daycare. I love the concept of the program, having the daycare kids learn something useful. I am thinking about it, and will be anxious to know what comes of that. She also told me that although there are 2 other violin teachers, no one is a Suzuki teacher (or viola teacher). When I drop the tape she asked me to watch, she also asked me to bring my business cards and she will help advertise, so I thought that was really nice of her!
I start working at the Oxford Academy of Fine Arts on Thursday, a week from today! I am both excited and nervous. Right now, I'm in the process of making my studio information sheet, as well as a "what to buy" sheet and "how to take care of your violin or viola" sheet. It's fun for me, and I am really looking forward to meeting my students.
Madison starts law school orientation the same day! So I will drop him off at that in the morning, and then prepare for my first day of teaching at OAFA.
I have been advertising for lessons in the paper and around Oxford. It is a lot of work to get students around here! I talked to Jeanne about it (the kindermusik lady) and she said that it is difficult to get students by advertising in the paper, but that word of mouth is the best resource. She is going to help get the word out, and I'm going to try running my ad for one more week and see if I get any response. Irwin Bell also should be getting back to me in a week about my students from him. With the economy in such rough shape, you just never know how many people are going to want to fork out the money for lessons, so I'm just trying my hardest. I got an email last night from a homeschooler (yay!!!) who is interested in lessons -- she's the assistant professor of classics at Ole Miss and homeschools her daughter who is 7. I emailed her back and am waiting on her to get back with me, so I at least got 2 people expressing interest! One with a 2 year old who saw my ad in the Daily Mississippian, and this woman who saw my ad on a Mississippi homeschool forum. (when I say I'm trying hard to advertise, I mean it! haha!)
things are going well -- Madison is getting excited about law school. It's going to be nice to have another place to plug in. It's difficult making friends when you don't have many connections and when you're self-employed (or have a job where you're not working with other people much). We're enjoying the 1 couple that we are friends with and we're excited to make more friends through law school and the church we've been visiting for the past two Sundays. I'm hoping to make friends with other teachers and through the Bunco group that Danica (my 1 friend) just started. Bunco is a dice game that has 8 players. Each month we're going to play and have food at one of the 8 girls' houses. The first game is this month in a few weeks! It'll be fun and something for me to do and a good place to meet people. It's all girls that Danica knows. We'll draw when we have Bunco night at our house, so I'm excited about that. :)
Well, I better get back to lesson plans!
Liz

my job!

Well, the interview went well! The man I will be working for is the music minister at First Baptist Church. He is also the director of the Oxford School of the Arts, where I will be working. I will have a studio with a piano in it, and I already have 3 students lined up and more on the way! I'm really excited about this opportunity. It really works out well, because they handle my money and everything. Makes it a lot easier to do taxes that way.
Right now, I am babysitting. The little boy is asleep right now, so I decided to pull my computer out of my purse. The other babysitter said that that's what she does also, and I was able to get right on their wireless. I am babysitting until tomorrow, filling in for Danica who is out of town.
I am already exhausted -- I forgot how tiring babysitting can be with a 2 year old, although he is very sweet! You would think since I nannied for 2 families for almost 2 years, both with 2 kids under 3, I would remember how tiring it was! haha.
I'm looking forward to this weekend - Madison & I are going to Tupelo on Friday - we have a Sams Club card & gift card we want to stock up on necessities & school supplies for Madison before all the school rush happens and the lines are really long. Then I want to swim in our pool and get some sun! It's weird having it this hot in August! Usually it starts getting at least a bit cooler by now in the Midwest.
Madison starts law school (orientation) on Aug. 21! I'm excited for him. He's really looking forward to it, and we're both looking forward to a set schedule. I am really enjoying this time off with him, and we have been SO thankful that it has worked out to spend so much quality time together, but we're both starting to get cabin fever and just ready to have stuff to go to and have a schedule.
Well, it's about time that Avery wakes up, so I better get going in case he's ready to get up!
Liz

Interview time!

I put on a dressy interview outfit that the Taylors got me in Destin -- Today is the day I talk with the First Baptist music school man. I have the job, I just need to go in, meet him face-to-face since all our communication has been over phone & email. We will discuss all the details and I am so excited about that! I will definitely write an update later about how it goes and any details I find out from our meeting. There are also bulletin boards around Oxford that I am going to put up some flyers with the little tags to tear on the bottom. Here's one I designed:

Also, if you're bored & want to learn more about Oxford, here's a great site:

Oxford, MS Wikitravel

That's it for now!

Liz

FINALLY!

I finally got my first job! I have been so frustrated/stressed out as time progresses...I got a phone call today from First Baptist Church and they want me to work for them at their music program! They will pay me on a tuition based salary, so the more students, of course the more I will get paid. I am so excited, because I already have 3 students lined up and a 4th that is expressing interest! The music director expects more students to trickle in as fall gets closer...This is a huge answer to prayer. I was starting not to care where I applied (coffee houses, restaurants, etc.) So now I feel like a door has opened and I can focus on finding students. It's been so depressing seeing Madison's and my hard-earned money being drained out of our bank accounts and not making anything to put back in there, so I am pumped at any amount that can be put back in our accounts!

We had a fun visit with the Taylors this weekend - it's so fun to have people stay at our house! We had so much fun trying out a few neat restaurants in Oxford that we've been dying to try, and it was fun to introduce them to a few new places that we have found. I love Oxford, it's a fun artsy cute town. It's a little of an adjustment, being from big cities practically my whole life, but there are so many good things about it, I haven't had too much "homesickness". I do miss restaurants, stores, friends that are not here, but am also becoming attached to things here that I would miss if we left. It's finally feeling like a place I can call home, even though I sound so much different and the culture is just a different place than I'm used to!
People are so friendly and helpful, and I have felt nothing but welcome from anyone we've come across. We visited a really nice church with so many young adults, I think we're going to stay at this church. It's called Christ Presbyterian Church. Funny, because our Pres. church we attended for a while in Grand Rapids was also Christ Pres. We're going to try the Sunday school once the new one starts this fall.

Sometime soon, Madison & I are going to take some pictures of downtown Oxford and I will post them on here.

Hope everyone is doing great! Leave me a comment if you feel like it :)