One Hundred Things

   1. I was born in Lawrence, KS
   2. I moved around the Midwest when I was growing up
   3. I have lived in 3 American states: Kansas, Missouri & Nebraska.
   4. I went to 8 different schools
   5. I was born loving music.
   6. I thought I would be a teacher when I grew up.
   7. I don't remember a time when I wasn't singing.
   8. I was and still am an avid reader
   9. I love books
  10. I was the only child my mother knew that got in trouble for reading too much.
  11. Reading kept me from cleaning my room and doing chores.
  12.  From 7th -9th grade I was a member of the Lawrence Children's Choir
  13.  As a high school student I assisted with the LCC's feeder choir, the Choristers
  14. I have always felt older than I really am.
  15. Ready to do more and be more than I was allowed to be.
  16. I don’t like it when things don’t come naturally
  17. Musical things come naturally.
  18. Working with kids comes naturally
  19. Being friends with people who are quite older than me comes naturally
  20. I have been told I have a gift for conducting. 
  21. Conducting has become one of my passions over the years.
  22. My other passion is creating and leading relevant, artful worship.
  23. I got my first church music job at 19 years old. 
  24. I stayed at Centenary United Methodist Church for 5 years.
  25. My first job was working at in a retirement community's Kitchen as a dietary aide
  26. I have had some amazing musical opportunities over the years.
  27. I attend the University of Kansas as a Vocal Performance Major
  28. I studied voice with Un-Chong Christopher & Joyce Castle
  29. I have sung under the direction of Simon Carrington & Dr. John Paul Johnson
  30. I have been in choirs coached by Charles Bruffy & Bob Chilcott
  31. I have worked with Jane Marshall, Alice Parker & Helen Kemp
  32. After Graduating high school in 2000 I made my first trip to New York
  33. That's when I sang at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Simon Carrington
  34. My second time on the East coast a few years later I traveled to Washington D.C.
  35. There I sang at National Cathedral for evening service with KU's Chamber Choir
  36. We also performed at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York
  37. I love traveling
  38. Most of my travels have happened thanks to music.
  39. I met my husband at Henry's Coffee Shop.  Neither one of us drinks coffee.
  40. We dated for a year
  41. We were engaged for a year
  42. We got used to this being married idea the next year
  43. We call year number 2 of our marriage the year of the baby
  44. I also call it the year of the hospital.
  45. That year my husband's appendix ruptured and my daughter was in the NICU for 3 1/2 weeks
  46. More time than I have ever spent in hospitals.
  47.  But we all survived.
  48.  Moved to Kansas City, MO in 2006
  49.  Wasn't sure about that move.
  50. Have since grown to love my home.
  51. Still trying to finish United Methodist Certification for Lay Musicians
  52. I have one class left
  53. I’ve never been out of the country. 
  54. My husband has dual citizenship to Canada.
  55. I want to start my own professional vocal ensemble
  56. I am also exploring starting my own children's chorus
  57. I miss conducting.
  58. I am determined to get back at it.
  59. I was a percussionist in high school
  60. I want to own a marimba some day.
  61. I also was in the marching band's color guard
  62. Those were good times.
  63. I have a small monkey collection that I now share with my daughter
  64. I love being a mom.
  65. But sometimes motherhood is frustrating
  66. and it's not easy.  No matter how people say I make it look. 
  67. I like my large blue eyes
  68. My daughter Madeline got them, too
  69. And so did my son Oliver
  70. We look quite handsome together.
  71. I love to cook and people say I'm pretty good at it.
  72. I wish I had more time to get into photography.
  73.  I love the smell of pomegranate candles.  It's quite awesome.  
  74. I wear jeans most every day
  75.  I seem to work better at night but never past 1:00 am.
  76. I can't stand cola soda
  77. But I do like Dr. Pepper & Root bear occasionally.
  78. I love Sunkist Soda and drink far too much
  79. I'm a pescatarian but nobody really gets that
  80. so I just tell them I am a vegetarian.
  81. Pescatarians eat eggs, dairy & seafood
  82. I want to live somewhere with a metro where I don’t need a car.
  83. I want to recycle more but feel limited by my lack of space.
  84. My focus now is reduce, reuse. 
  85. My husband taught me how to crochet when we were dating.
  86. I now do it more than he does.
  87. I also loom knit. 
  88. I love yarn crafting so much that I created a group for charity giving
  89. It's call Yarn Blessings. (look us up on Facebook)
  90. I enjoy making the prayer shawls and baby blankets.
  91. I took 5 years of Spanish language in school
  92. Over the years I have sung in 12 languages the last time I counted
  93. I used to joke that I was a Chinese, Mexican, Italian in a past life
  94. because those were my favorite food categories. 
  95. I want to live in a simply designed home with lots of storage
  96. And it must have enough lawn for a garden
  97. and a clothes line
  98. Fall and Spring are my favorite times of year.
  99. This took longer to write than I thought it would.
 100. I guess I can't believe I had 100 things to say about me.  :-)