"Miss Beckstrom"

This is a picture of the girl who just GOT HIRED as The Waterford School's lower school orchestra director and teacher of beginning strings!

I was up on that podium, fixing intonation and teaching tidbits of music history, and they were calling me "miss beckstrom" and playing their little violins. And the music director and head mistress loved it. LOVED IT! I had a meeting with head mistress in her office where she has a real taxidermy owl. I told her about why I love music. We discussed curriculum. And I sign a contract next week.

I feel a little bit like Jo March running into the house waving her first published story. "I'm a teacher, I'm a teacher!!"

Now tell me that's not exciting.

Bored

You've heard that no news is good news, right?

Well I have no new news to share. And in my case, it's pretty lame, cause I'm BORED! So bored. And it's probably my own fault for lacking creativity. I think it would be rad to go play outside in the beautiful weather that finally turned into summer. You know, hiking, swimming, biking, rollerblading, etc? But alas, I can't find any allergy medicine strong enough to stop the incessant sneezing and itchy eyes. And if it is strong enough, I'm asleep for the next 6 hours. My Michigan allergy fix- acupuncture therapy- has also proven disappointingly ineffective. So I hang out inside. With my hoodie and the central air.

I practice cello, study music theory and history for upcoming grad-school entrance exams, clean and organize things, cook things, waste time online and wait for my boyfriend to get off of work and come over so that we can... study some more! -- and watch old movies and TV episodes that came out while he was in Texas. Sound fun?

OK, it's not THAT bad. And some days are pretty fun. But today I'm in a rut. Anyone want to hang out? PLEASE call me!

Next week I start substitute teaching little cellists in the Cheney cello studio. And I'm awaiting news on another job I'm pretty excited about. And this weekend is TAYLORSVILLE DAYZZ. Fun is on its way.

I'm just ready for it NOW.

Jamilyn Plays Dvorak

Maybe some of you (most of you?) haven't seen me play the cello- which is actually a HUGE part of my life. I finally figured out how to make use of the footage from my recital back in April, and I thought I'd share some with you.

Funny how I felt so amazing about this performance right after I had played, but now reviewing it, there are so many things I know I need to work on and do better. I hope they don't bother you as much as they bother me.

I present to you, blog world, Jamilyn Beckstrom and Susan W. Uchimura, playing Cello Concerto in B minor, from my April 11, 2010 graduate recital in the lecture hall of Western Michigan University's Dalton Center. Enjoy!

Cello Concerto in B minor by Dvorak from Jamilyn Beckstrom on Vimeo.

Just Around the River Bend

Life is kind of low key right now. Not a lot is going on. Summer always takes me a while to get settled in to. Big and exciting things are about to happen- a lot sooner than expected. I'll keep you posted. But in the mean time, I'm going to enjoy life just the way it is. ♥

The Chop Etc.

So I'm kind of a long winded blogger. Sorry. I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet.

I've got the best friend and boyfriend ever, I think. He has decided to establish "fresh flower Friday." Which means he brings me beautiful fresh flowers... every Friday. This was the first one. Orange gerber daisies. Love.

Other Nathan and Jamilyn highlights:

* We're getting pretty good at making homemade pizza

* Dancing at Studio 600- we still got our groove

* Finished watching The Office up to the end of season 5!! AHH!! Jim and Pam!!

* Rollerblading on the JR parkway

* Three various memorial day family BBQs- we're a happily co-existing omnivore/herbivore couple

Mostly we just hang out. He studies. I read. And practice cello. And it's great.

Other big news! About two years ago, when my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Nathan left on his mission, and I moved to Michigan, I decided to start growing my hair long. The original plan was to cut it off and donate it to make a wig for my Mom to use during chemo therapy. But she ended up needing a wig way sooner than my hair was ready. So I just kept growing it, still with the intent to someday donate it to a cancer mom. In the past 26 months, I've only trimmed it twice. And it got long.

It was also exciting to grow it while Nathan was away, cause in all our years together, he had never seen me with long hair. It was fun to have it long when he got home! He loved it. Buuut, I was ready for a change. I was also feeling a little bit selfish for keeping my long hair when there are plenty of women suffering from cancer with NO hair. So I finally made an appointment for the chop.
And it got chopped! 12 inches!!
And now it's this long. And it feels great. And I love it. Thanks, Monica! Some chemo-suffering cancer woman will get a free wig from the Pantene Great Lengths foundation. And that's a good feeling.
Also... Nathan and I may or may not have found the perfect ring. For far in the future. :)