Feeling more settled in

When we moved, I got rid of some of my college stuff that is basically trash, but planning for a wedding 2 1/2 weeks after graduation kind of made it difficult to really pack well. So, right now, my house is a little bit of a mess -- but it's a good kind of mess...I am finally going through the boxes and clothes that I don't need anymore. There is a huge pile of goodwill items, and a little pile to bring to a resale shop of nicer clothes that are either out of style or several sizes too small from as early as fresh or soph year of high school...I am learning why I should not hoard things...wow. I have a pair of size 5.5 shoes that I found...Madison was like "what are THESE? they're children's' shoes!" So anyways, next time we move, I hope to have about 2/3 or even 1/2 of what we had when we got here. I bought another little storage thing for my crafts which will help too. When you knit, make jewelry, scrapbook, make stationary, rubber stamp, and paint, it's kind of ridiculous the stuff that you accumulate. It was all piled on top of a card table until I used it for bunco and realized that the table is useless if I have to pile everything on it! I am learning how to organize. Our kitchen needs some organizational help. I have a hard time not having a pantry like my family has always had. The cabinets are small and not very tall and I have a hard time knowing where food should go. I may go to wal mart and see if they have a cheap shelving unit, or wait until we go to my dad's for New Years and make a trip to IKEA. That may be a nice option. Then I could store all the appliances on the shelves and have more room for the food in the cabinets. When we unpacked, we unpacked pretty fast, so I think I pretty much need to pull everything out and redo where things go. (other than the silverware drawer - - that would rock Madison's world if I changed that stuff around haha!) It would absolutely drive me nuts too!
We had a really good day at church. There was a potluck afterwards for newcomers. I'm always a little scared of potlucks but this food was really good. We met a really nice couple (well Madison already knew the husband from law school) and we had a lot of fun talking to them, as well as meeting a few other people. The pastor is really friendly and already knows us by name. We have had fairly long conversations with him every Sunday for the past few. We feel like we're really fitting in there. I wanted to get comfortable with a church before I offered to play for the services, just because I didn't want to say anything before we knew that "this is it". But we definitely feel like this church is the place for us. It was the most friendly church we visited, and I think especially since I have no real good places to meet friends except through the law school, it's important to find a church with lots of fellowship. The church is a great mix of traditional and contemporary as far as music goes. There's always at least 1-2 hymns and then 1-2 RUF'ish praise songs.
It's been a really long time since I have been able to feel like I have had a church to call my church. College Church is where I attended most of college, but it was so large, and even though we were involved in both music and a Sunday school class, I never really felt too connected. I still don't really know anyone older than us, other than the pastor, which I really hope I do.
Well, I better get back to work!
Liz

Change and transition

Tonight I have been reflecting on all the change in the past few years...it's quite overwhelming. I have had more time on my hands lately as we feel more settled in our house, and I feel more settled into my not so busy routine.

Moving here and settling in has often created a deeper feeling for missing my mom. I obviously missed her excruciating amounts before, but everything to seeing our family photo at my wedding without her, to thinking "I wish I could call mom up and tell her about my students, my house, my new friends, etc." I have no idea how to sew for instance...and believe me, I have tried and failed. She and I sewed my curtains for my dorm room in college together. It's painful to think about the simple things that we used to do that I wish could still happen. I guess leaving college was leaving the place she left me at. We used to talk every day on the phone when I was in college...I probably drove her NUTS and I definitely did it instead of doing what I "needed to do"....but that was something I couldn't deal without...talking to her every day. I guess those type of things are what make it so painful. Some times are harder than others, but I think lately with all the change of getting married and moving to a completely new place have shaken things up.
I love reminiscing on times with her, it helps. It helps to look at photos and such. And it helps just to cry it out, which I have found lately, I have been doing close to every day. I am finding out that I am homesick for something that no longer exists, and through God's grace I can be strong enough to get through each day with a smile. For some reason, I thought it would get easier...in a strange way, I am happy it isn't. It may sound crazy, but I feel closer to her this way. It's excruciatingly painful sometimes, but it's good to think and talk it out. If you know me well, you know I do not like talking about it. I don't mind being asked in the least about anything regarding my mom, but for some reason, when I am missing my mom and talking to someone such as my sister or my grandma, I'd rather just talk about what's going on that day or something, rather than break down on the phone about mom.
I've been talking a lot about it to Madison which has been good/healthy...he's good about making me talk about things instead of bottle them up like I try to do.

The work aspect of my life has been a little discouraging, although I am continuing to press hard and keep my chin up. The job market is horrible here. It helped talking to a new friend I just met named Kelly. She and her husband moved here from Starkville so he could start law school. She has her college degree and has been applying for every sort of job imaginable, even jobs that just require a high school degree and hasn't been able to get anything. This encouraged me that it's not because they don't like my accent or something (I was determined there was something they didn't like about me!) I am discouraged at the lack of students I have; I thought I would have a full studio or at least 10 students by now. It's just a long process, and this is not Wheaton. People aren't as interested in music lessons or something! Mr. Bell has been helpful, but hasn't had nearly as much of a waiting list as he usually does. He's also taking care of his wife who has cancer, so he has been very busy. I am excited about a new group I started at a local private school. I'm coaching a chamber music group, and they're quite talented, which is encouraging!

I love life, I love my husband, I love my family, friends, and I love where I am...sometimes I just get homesick for places that no longer exist, and the ones that still do exist, cost over $400.00 to get to!

Some photos

Here's some photos of the last week or so :-)

First, here's where I work:

Here's where Madison spends all of his time on campus (this is the law school)



I have a lot of spare time at night while Madison does his homework, so I do projects to keep me busy. :-) I always lose our keys, and we only have 1 car key...so I decided to try to find a key hook at wal mart. There was a wooden one that needed to be painted, so one night a few weeks ago, I painted this key hook thing - it was fun!


Here's some pictures from the square and campus decorated with stuff from the debate:
This is us in the morning before taking Madison to class (hence my swollen eyes)














This is part of the grove, in the center of campus - isn't it pretty?

Road block

The brick building in the background is where the debate was held

Debate week

This week is debate week. If you weren't aware, Oxford is the location for the first presidential debate (this Friday)! I'm excited, because Madison has Friday off, and his last 2 classes on Thursday are canceled! Oxford is going to be so insanely packed. It's going to be fun to see Oxford on the news and such! It's also Madison's birthday this weekend! I still don't really know what to get him...boys can be so difficult to shop for!
Security is already in full force here - roads are closed all around the Ford Center (where the debate will be held). I believe that it has been a month now that they have had the grounds of the Ford Center completely blocked and guarded 24/7. One of Madison's friend's girlfriend was jogging by in exercise clothes and the guards shouted at her and made her walk as she passed the Ford Center on the sidewalk outside the fenced area instead of jog...it's pretty intense!
The game was really fun this weekend - we were able to spend some time with Jason's family, which was fun. (Jason & Danica are our good friends here in Oxford). Jason's family comes to every football game. Their 2 daughters were unable to come, so we got to sit in their seats and go out to dinner. It was so much fun, we had a great weekend. Even though Ole Miss lost, it was an exciting game...I usually get incredibly bored, but the whole time, the score was very close. They played Vanderbilt.
I got another teaching opportunity which I am incredibly excited about. I had "leads" on it for a long time, and it has finally played out. On Fridays, I am going to be coaching a chamber group at a private classical school here in Oxford. I am super excited about this, and I hope to get them out performing and such, as they have expressed interest in doing so. I absolutely love chamber music, it's probably my favorite all around, performing, teaching, etc. It will be good experience, and I am so excited about it! One of the girls drives to Memphis for violin lessons, so I am thinking maybe I can recruit some students out of the deal as well.
I still absolutely love teaching. All my students are so eager to learn, and I am encouraged about how they're all doing. 2 of my students have never played before, and I had never started a student from scratch. One is 7, one is 15, so it has been really fun to see how that has been playing out!
Madison is still enjoying law school -- it's a lot of work! I miss this summer when we could pop in Seinfeld or the Office and have some down time in the evenings, but I have been making jewelry and doing other projects to keep myself busy. It's just an adjustment! I'm so thankful he is right where he needs to be, school wise...he comes home excited about everything, and loves to tell me about his homework and such -- it's very encouraging and makes me happy that he is enjoying it. He obviously gets tired out by Friday and needs the weekends, but he really does like law school a lot.
Well, I better get back to work!
Liz

Monday blues

Not really...just couldn't think of a title :-)

We had a fun 2 days in Brookhaven Fri-Sat! It was Tully's birthday and we had a fun time visiting. Madison's birthday is on the 27th and I am trying to think of a few somewhat inexpensive things to get him...boys are difficult to shop for!!
Law school has been going well for him -- I honestly don't know how he does it -- last night, he didn't finish his homework until about 2am. Usually it's not before 11pm, but before 12:30am. Although I completely understand and am SO thankful that he is a hard worker and that I don't even need to push him at all, it is difficult for me especially in the evenings when I want to hang out with him or talk to him and I can't. I have painted some things, and I'm trying to come up with other things to do. We're getting cable soon, which will be nice for when I'm really board.

The studio is going well. I have great students, they're all hard workers and fun to work with! One family is driving 45 mins one way to come to lessons (I'm apparently the closest teacher!) I have 3 students that are elementary school age, and 2 that are in high school. I am having fun teaching, and hope to get some more students. I am still working hard on getting more students, but it is still slow. It has definitely been a test of my patience.

I joined curves - I am excited about it. So far, it has been fun! I am looking forward to dropping some weight and just getting more healthy. Madison & I have been trying to eat healthy, and we have both dropped at least a few pounds. Drinking water is something I have really been pushing myself to do lately, and I feel so much healthier when I drink enough water!

Tomorrow night, I host Bunco which will be fun. I'm already getting ready for it, speaking of which...I should get back to it!

Liz

New job!

I got a second job that I am excited about. Back when we moved here, I contacted just about every musician in Oxford (which is not a whole lot!) and tried to get connected. One of the last people I found was a Kindermusik teacher who has a big Kindermusik business here in Oxford. She has a large studio in the front of her house, as well as a teacher she hired to teach at a community art center, the "Powerhouse". Her studio is ranked in the top 3% in the world, and it's a Maestro studio (named by Kindermusik). Anyways, she needed another teacher to go into daycares and teach the little kids in the morning. Most of the daycares are in churches, and in fact, one is in the church where I teach lessons already. The time frame is from 9:30-11, which is perfect, mainly because Madison's classes start at 9:30, and I don't teach before 3:30 usually. I am so excited to have another job, and so excited I didn't have to go the route of working at a non-music minimum wage job or something. I finally feel like I am using my music degree a lot, and I am very happy where I am. 

Life has been going well. I'm still lonely for more friends, homesick for Wheaton, for familiararity, missing my family, etc. But I really am growing to love this town and my friends here. Some days are harder than others, where I just sit here and cry because I'm so frustrated, but most days have been increasingly more positive and happy. 

Tomorrow at 6:30pm, there's a dinner meeting here in Oxford for the law wives club. I'm excited about it, because I get to meet girls in somewhat similar situations to me. It'll be nice to have an automatic group of girls to hang out with. They meet once a month and do different activities and such, so I'm excited about it. I'll write about it more after the first meeting.

Well, Madison and I are about to go catch some dinner before this hectic week starts!

Liz

It's been a little while since I have posted - things have been somewhat busy, and I'm so happy to finally be into somewhat of a routine. Lessons are going well so far, I have very sweet students. Madison & I were going to go to Memphis yesterday for Labor Day, but we decided not to because of the traffic from the evacuees and possible bad weather. Today was when it was supposed to "hit" here (just the tail end of the storm) but so far, it's just windy & cloudy. Madison's classes were on watch of being canceled but weren't. We had a really fun day together still and got a lot done around the house.

School is going well for Madison. He works on homework until late evening, but is learning how to do his homework more efficiently. It just takes time to figure out what works for him, verses someone else. This is his thing...he loves learning the stuff, he loves telling me about it, and I'm so thankful that he was able to have this opportunity because he is completely cut out for this way of learning and such and is very excited about it.

As I wrote about some cultural differences here, I have to write about this one...you northerners will get a kick out of it. At MSU games, I never ever dressed up as much as a polo even...we always wore MSU colors, and either tshirts, sweatshirts and jeans or shorts. Here, the girls/women wear dresses to the football game! It is so funny to me...and yes, I caved & wore a sun dress and hate to admit that it was actually fun to dress up for...haha. It definitely helped with the incredibly miserable heat to wear a sun dress. It's so crazy to see how decked out people get. Guys dress up too. Lots of them wear crazy stuff like red dress pants, khakis and blazers, etc. I love dressing up and it will be fun to do, it just still cracks me up. When I was stuffing my bag with something to sit on, water, etc., I was saying to Madison, "I cannot believe I am wearing a DRESS to a football game!!!" People would probably stare at you if you did that at a MSU game. I had such a fun day. Instead of tailgating in the literal sense, people set tents up in the grove (the large, beautiful wooded area on campus) and it's packed with tents. There's a Brookhaven tent we hung out at, and there's also a law school tent we hung out at. Here's some pictures:







Left: Mallory, a girl I met in our bunco group. On my right: Danica, my original friend that has been so nice to me (her husband is a hometown friend of Madison's and they live in Oxford too)

Jason & Danica