This is what I do!

Finally some pictures!

This is me and my politically passionate pal Desiree watching the Great VP Debate.  We played Palin Bingo and ate debate donuts. Good times.  

This is a pumpkin spice donut.  Deliciousness!  SAD NEWS!  The Kalamazoo Krispy Kreme went out of business on Monday this week.  What am I gonna do for the next debate??

While the snowflakes fell in Salt Lake City, my friends and I were driving to Lake Michigan to spend a beautiful Sunday evening at the beach.

These are my church friends who are also my wonderful neighbors.  We've got Breanna, Jana, AnnaLaura, and Lillian.  And they are standing in beautiful, warm, wave-less Lake Michigan.     

AND a full moon.  

This picture is for my USU music friends.  Check out how HUGE the practice rooms are here!  And there is a piano in every single one.  It's incredible.  For my non-music major friends... music geeks like me LIVE in these rooms.  The accommodations are important!

Aww, cello love self portrait.

This is the freakin awesome cemetery that is a 5 minute jaunt from my house.  Call me morbid, but I LOVE exploring cemeteries.  This graveyard provides me with the only exercise I seem to get these days.

This is an example of the Michigan fall foliage.

 "My my my it's a beautiful world!" -Colin Hey

"This is a tall Jamilyn picture.  Like as tall as the tree. "  - AnnaLaura Feng Shui Artz Iffland

My legs look really... thick.  But I'm wearing rain boots.  

This lovely park is across the street from my street. I love my neighborhood!

Happy Autumn Friends and Fam.  

I love you all!

And miss you most!

A real update

Enough of the silly surveys and things that I've been blogging lately.  Here is a real update.

In the past two days, 4 different friends have told me that I look "really tired", "exhausted", and "half asleep".  1) I hate hearing that... you might as well just say "wow, you really look like crap today! What happened?"  and 2) I've gotten more sleep in the past two days than I have in a long time.  What's the deal?  I didn't wear makeup yesterday and I thought that might have been a factor, but I was more than disheartened to hear it today when I was all put together and thinking that I looked good.  Dang it.  

Tammy, you'll be happy to know that all the fun that I've been having in Michigan is finally subsiding.  I am full force into school and super busy with homework and textbooks and practicing.  I am learning to say "no", which is a HARD thing for me to do.  "No" to dates that I have neither time nor interest in.  "No" to teaching opportunities that I don't have room in my schedule for.  "No" to parties when I have homework to do.  *sigh* ... growing up is hard.  

But I DID say "yes" to two new callings in my little Kalamazoo University Branch.  Say hello to the new branch choir director and relief society teacher.  I am extremely humbled and overwhelmed by both of these new positions.  I feel moved to use a slightly sacrilegious but applicable quote from my favorite Jim Halpert of the Office.  "Lord beer me strength!"

I ran my first sectional as GA of the cello studio here.  It's hard work to command authority in front of a group of college cellists, many of whom are hardly less talented or younger than I am.  I am extremely grateful for the ones who were respectful and helpful, and who listened to what I had to say.  And less grateful to the ones who didn't... in fact, I wouldn't mind smacking a few of them.  Master Francis... I totally relate to the feeling of "caged monkeys".  I'm sorry that I was ever one of them.  I had a lesson in church today, of all places, titled "Love the ones you teach".  Man, if that wasn't inspired from God, I don't know what is.

After a series of small miracles, I am happily settled into my new studio apartment in my new yellow house.  And someone bought the lease to my old party house.  Phew, that's a weight off of my shoulders!  Here is a picture of my cute new place, and also a video tour... cause I know you all secretly want to see inside my house.  Please don't use the info in the pic or video to stalk me for real.  I'll call the cops.  

Hot Child In The City... plus some

I took a spontaneous day trip to Chicago yesterday!!  I LOVE that city!  And I love it that I'm close to it now!  I definitely want to go back and spend more time.  We went to drop off a friend at the O'Hare airport, so we just bummed around for a while before she had to check in to her flight.  It was such a blast.  And the girls I went with are amazing.  I took about a billion pictures.  I'm just going to post some highlights:
          

This is me at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It's free.  What a cool idea, huh?  It felt so cool to just walk in.  I took pictures of pretty much every animal I saw, but as some of you know, I have a dear spot in my heart for puffins.  I'd never seen one in person before, and this little guy came right up to the glass to say hello.  It made my day.  

     

     
Wow, this place is cool.  If you've never been there before, the first picture is of a giant bubble/ mirror thing that reflects the city in crazy ways.  And I was really entertained by taking a thousand pictures of myself in front of it.  The pillar with the face is a giant fountain that looks clear up close but far away is a projection of a really realistic looking face. There are two fountains like this and between them is a plaza full of water and a bunch of splashing little kids and sunshine and fun.  

      
Mmmm, Chicago pizza.  Check out that deep dish crust!  We wanted to go to Girridanos, but the wait was too long, so instead we found this little hole in the wall place down a small street, and it was fabulous!  It felt so Chicago.  Watching a Cubs game on TV in a tiny packed pizza place scarfing deep dish.

And that was my first day in Chicago!  Fun times indeed.  I'll be back!

In other exciting Jamilyn news, I got the best letter of my life from Elder Morris that came in a Fed Ex envelope with a shirt that we pass back and forth so that it smells like him when I get it.  It also came with some home made incense that he got from a neighbor in his apartment complex.  Man I love my missionary!  And I love incense!   Wearing this shirt feels almost like a Nathan hug.  I miss those.  Lots.  
      

I started my job as assistant to Professor Bruce Uchimura at WMU.  I had all sorts of boring yet informative orientations and trainings and a really fun lunch meeting to discuss my position and my responsibilities for the upcoming year.  Prof. Uchimura and I met at a Lebanese buffet.  I think it's rad that Kalamazoo has a Lebanese buffet!  With my bachelors degree in music performance, and countless hours of graduate assistant training, my first assignment was (drum roll please...) to decorate the orchestra bulletin board.  My first thought was "you've gotta be kidding me!"  but I actually had lots of fun, and from the before and after pictures, I think that it turned out really well!  
     

Today is Elder Morris's birthday.  My friend AnnaLaura and I volunteered to make dinner for the branch missionaries and I sort of turned it into a birthday celebration for Nathan.  LOL.  At the smell of home made chili, cornbread, and german chocolate cake coming from the church kitchen, about 8 more members invited themselves to the celebration too.  It was completely awesome.  The more the merrier, and we had plenty of food.  There was cake, ice cream, candles, singing, and I took videos of it all to send to Nathan :)  My favorite line was when Elder Smith, one of our branch missionaries said "Man, I wish MY girlfriend would do stuff like this for me!"  Poor Elder Smith.  He's the one closest to the camera in the second picture.  
     

Other news that I have no pictures to document:  I passed all but two of my placement exams, which my advisor made sure to let me know was pretty amazingly good.  I didn't pass renaissance and baroque music history of all things, but it's ok.  I chose my cognate, which is kind of like a minor.  I am now officially a master of cello performance graduate teaching assistant with a music history cognate.  Please step into my office, Dalton 1413, thanks.  I feel so cool.  

I also went on my first date in over TWO YEARS that wasn't with Nathan.  A guy from the branch and I went on a walk around downtown Kalamazoo and then watched The Emperor's New Groove back at his place.  I LOVE that movie and downtown KZoo is cute and charming, but I'm just not sure about how I feel about dating.  I'll think about it some more and letcha know.  

Speaking of cute and charming, I think I might have found THE PERFECT little studio apartment for me to move into.  It's in the historic district of Kalamazoo, and it's in a darling yellow house... already sounds Jamilynish, right?  I'm going to go look at it tomorrow and meet the landlord.  If all goes well, the only trick will be getting out of my current lease.  Wish me luck!

Getting Settled

I went to church today... at the "kub", which stands for Kalamazoo university branch.  I made some new friends who are like me! -which is an exciting thing to find when you're 1500 miles from home.  The branch is small, but everyone is extremely tight with each other, and I feel like I have 22 new best friends.  And they already asked me to speak in church next week.  I think that's funny cause in my 4 years of USU student wards, I never once spoke in sacrament meeting.  

I also unpacked most of my stuff.  It feels nice to have a place that feels like my own here.  Tomorrow will be even better when I get pictures and stuff up on the walls.  Yay.  

I'm still looking for an internet connection in my house that is strong enough to let my upload more pictures and videos.  So far no such luck.