Sorry it's been so long!

As most of y'all know, I had a great year last year. . . lots of blessings in my life in 2013 for sure. This year has barely started, but it is pretty dang packed and stressful. I definitely have my doubts on a daily basis.
Weather doesn't exactly help either. For those of not living in Rexburg or the general area, it is COOOOLD. Like, deathly cold. I am really craving some warm weather, that's for sure.
However, the people here are so friendly and supportive. I have made many lifelong friends.

I have the opportunity to ski at Grand Targhee Ski Resort every Saturday. It is definitely the relief to my week! It's nice to get out of town and ski my worries away sometimes. 

Grand Targhee, errbody. 

So Grand Targhee Ski Resort was SUPER foggy and powdery last Saturday. Like, blinding white. You literally could not see anything in front of you and it was windy and it really threw off our depth perception. So I got stuck a lot in powder, but I eventually got out usually. This one time though, I didn't see a bump coming and I fell face first into a bunch of powder, and I was all tangled up and literally couldn't tell what direction I was facing and I couldn't breathe because there was so much snow against my whole face. I can't even explain how I stuck I felt. It was so scary. I was probably only stuck for a minute but it felt like forever, and then I felt someone pull on my leg and they completely pulled me out of the snow, like with ONE hand. When I finally could see and breathe, I didn't see anyone, like at all. It makes no sense and I sound like a lunatic but someone or something basically saved my life and they did it in one swift motion. It's so unreal. I honestly feel like an angel saved me. If I had been under that powder any longer I probably would have lost consciousness.

Anyways, I am a witness of a miracle and I am grateful that I am not dead!! Yet. 

In other news, I was recently interviewed on BYUI Radio about the composer Paganini and I performed an excerpt from his caprice no. 24. (The post popular and overplayed one) This will be aired on February 17th, 2014. It was a neat experience! I'm trying to seize any cool opportunity I can grab my hands on. This time of my life is definitely no time to waste!

I am so determined for this to be a great year, just like last year. Great years and success are required to come with trials and doubts. It's the doubts we have and the mistakes we make that help us grow. I have definitely learned to understand that concept intimately. There are times when I know exactly why I am having a problem, so I can plan out how to fix it. Most of the time, though, I have no idea what the heck is wrong with me and I don't understand why I'm having whatever the issue is, and it's just a sucky feeling. I just have to have faith that it'll all work out as long as I keep doing all the right things consistently. Plus, I have realized that thinking about my problems all the time does not solve them. I do need to rely on God and trust that He will help me through things. I can't do everything on my own, even though I think I can sometimes. 

And, when in doubt, just wear a cow suit. 

God bless all y'all!

Stay Classy, 2013

Ya know what? I think I can say that I kicked 2013's butt. This year has been SO epic. I think it was the one of the most accomplished years of my life! I'm honestly not sure if 2014 can beat out this year. Well, that would be pretty wicked awesome if it did. 

January was full of college auditions and then my last year of AllState Orchestra. I sure did miss a lot of school from that! So worth it, though. 
February: I got to participate in a program called the Honors Performance Series that performs in Carnegie Hall. That was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. I have never felt so much adrenaline during an orchestra performance. That hall is seriously the bomb diggity. 

Picture doesn't really do justice, but that hall is HUMUUUNGO. I felt like an ant on that stage. 

March was a fun month! I had officially decided on attending BYU-Idaho after receiving an amazing scholarship offer, and a few days later I vacationed in Kauai, Hawaii for ten days!

Beautiful Napoli Coast, Kauai. 

Shakalaka, brah. 

In April, I got to experience both Senior prom and LDS prom. Senior year is a PARTY. 

April was also full of friends coming and going. My dear friend Danielle Fox left for Her mission to Las Vegas. I felt so lonely after she left. She is doing AMAZING things, though. 

BUT THEN, I met Madi Bass and wasn't lonely anymore. I have come to realize she is basically my female soulmate. It feels like we've been best friends forever but I actually only met her this year, and now we literally talk every single day. We were both the only LDS kids in our high school so we had many things in common. I LOVE YOU BASSY. 

May? I GRADUATED FROM FLIPPIN HIGH SCHOOL!

I was glad to be done, but I do not regret one minute of my time at All Saints Episcopal School. I love every single one of my teachers. They really helped me go where I wanted and needed to go. 

Since BYUI didn't start until the middle of September, I had a looong summer. I did get to go visit the beautiful campus in June. Then, I vacationed in Florida for a week and experienced something called sunburn. A photo is not necessary here. 

I also attended Music in the Mountains in Durango, CO in July and enjoyed lovely summer mountain weather and the magnificent music.

I got super bored in August aside from my 19th birthday in Port Aransus, TX with my dad. At that point I was REALLY ready to get out of Texas and go to college already! Plus, Texas during August isn't exactly. . . dry. Blegh. 

September-December: COLLEGE. First semester. Success. I survived with a decent GPA, improved a lot as a musician and person, and made life-long friends. 

Dr. Hansen, my violin professor. One of the best teachers I have ever had! Yes, I'm in a cow suit, and he's in a knight suit here. 

This just about sums up my college weekends. 

Ok, now I gotta gush on all the famous people I met this year. I can't help myself. Did I mention this year was like the definition of STARSTRUCK?!

Joshua Bell-world class violinist. He came to Bass Hall in Fort Worth and I got his autograph after! He knows my violinmaker, Jan van Rooyen because he has actually made a few violins for him! The current chin rest on my violin actually used to belong to Joshua Bell. Fun fact. 

Rachel Barton-Pine, world class violinist. This inspring woman performed at Music in the Mountains. She was in a terrible subway accident several years ago and lost her legs. Luckily it did not affect her playing!

Mark O'Connor, world class fiddler. I got to meet Mark O'Connor after my college audition at Utah State. He was so awesome and chill. 

Josh Groban- singer. Ok, most of you know this one. It's a long, but amazing story. Read the experience here: http://cristaguthrie.blogspot.com/2013/10/adventure-groban-mission-possible.html

Jenny Oaks Baker- world class, LDS violinist. Jenny came to BYUI and did a concert. She played absolutely beautifully and I was so touched when she had a girl who had lost some fingers on her left hand and was able to still play violin with a special violin made BACKWARDS for her. It was incredible! Anything is possible!!!!

This year would have been a failure without my savior. I seriously can't thank The Lord enough for all the blessings in my life. I have a wonderf family, great friends, and I have been blessed gifts and talents and high quality education. Brownie points to JC for getting me through all the bumps this year! (I know I just listed off the awesome parts, but there were definitely stressful times as well.) 

Let's hope 2014 treats us all nicely. Happy New Year. 

Walking on A Tight Rope, literally

It's that mid semester stress I'm sure. 

I have had tests to study for and concerts to perform in with extra rehearsals and the daily practicing and homework on top of that! My emotions have been all over the place. I keep telling myself "balance! Balance and time management is key!" I guess it's one thing to manage your time and plan out your days/weeks, but it's another thing to manage your thoughts. Sure, maybe I planned on doing my science homework right now, but my mind is totally not focused on it. Why can't my focus coordinate with the plan?! AGH. 

Tonight I attended a slack lining activity, which is walking a tight rope. I generally have pretty good physical balance (thanks to surfing those Hawaiian waves!) and I picked it up pretty fast. There were different lengths and tightnesses of ropes. The looser ones were harder, especially as you moved toward the middle. Once you get past that middle part, though, the end becomes tighter again and it's easier to walk. I feel like this semester is like that tightrope....right now I'm right in the middle and it's wobbling back and forth and if I don't control my balance with my core and keep my eyes focused on one spot, I will fall off. Of course I can always get back on, though! Luckily there's not lava underneath this rope. It's just the gym floor. (Also, it's not that high off the ground at all. No worries!) 

I noticed tonight that I always fell off just about instantly when someone was talking to me as I tried to walk, or if my mind was racing and thinking too hard. I had to really zone out and completely empty my mind in order to walk across the whole length of the rope. When it comes to things like this, sometimes I just have to tell myself "Don't think, just do." (This does NOT apply to everything so be careful with that phrase, haha!) what I mean, though, is to not think of every complicated detail... think simply. 

Reaching the end of the longest length of the longest tightrope felt so fulfilling. It was the perfect way to end this crazy week (tests, concerts, Halloween craze). I wasn't leaving that gym until I did it, either. The feeling of relief is one of the best feelings after so much hard work, and you realize that the hard work really is worth it in the end. 

This semester does not end until mid-December, but I am determined that it will end nicely! And, in the long run, I hope all this hard work somehow leads me onstage with Josh Groban! :D

On the bright side, I am LOVING the fall leaves here in Rexburg! 

Happy Fall, everyone! But, don't fall. 

“I am mentally preparing myself for the five-year-old mind. I want to come down to their physical limitations and up to their sense of wonder and awe.” ~Shinichi Suzuki

He's right. Either everything is a miracle or it's not. It just depends on how you look at it. 

This past Saturday I took a violin teacher training class at my music school in Dallas; teacher training for the Suzuki Method specifically. 

Shinichi Suzuki is one of the most incredible people I have ever learned about. For those of you who do not know this name, this passionate man started a method for violin (and many other instruments) that changed the world. No, not every child who learns the violin becomes a professional or even continues it, but it teaches them a wild amount of life skills. Discipline, focus, a good ear, problem solving, respect, posture, memorization, speed reading, coordination, passion, and many other things that I may not be thinking of. Another amazing thing is that ANYONE can learn the violin. Suzuki proved this. Everyone is different in the way they learn.

My own violin teacher, Nicolette Solomon, took from Suzuki as a child, and now I think I understand where she gets her enthusiasm and ENERGY. Suzuki was hopping around on stage with a thousand children at the age of 76 or 77, as if he could never age. My own teacher teaches probably around thirteen hours a day and gives each student 110%, with or without lunch. People like this blow my mind so much, they inspire me to want to blow other people's minds. 

Age is ONLY a number!

I'm a new violin teacher myself, and still learning on how to teach well. I have lots of work to do. I did learn, though, that children are amazingly brilliant in their own unique ways. Each individual child is a miracle to the world. Since they are still developing as human beings, they use what they know in everything they say or do, and entertain and teach us all. I was explaining something about bowing to one of my students, Peter, and apparently something I said clicked (since he had been having a problem with this bowing for a few weeks) when he started going on some tangent about Star Wars and got all excited about it, and then did the bowing correctly (and quite dramatically, so to speak). I definitely started using more Star Wars references with him after that. 

You can make anything fun, even the boring stuff. You just have to think of something you love and connect it to that boring thing somehow. I think this also helps find your passion. What is that one thing you keep constantly referring to? Be silly with it! Physics was my worst subject in school and I found it painfully difficult to find the "fun" in it, but it did make more sense when I found music connections to it, and any other random, witty connection. 

Still not finding any fun in it? If it's reading, read it in Morgan Freeman's voice, or Ellen DeGeneres' (Dory). Works every time for me.

Like a boss.

So yeah, approach boring THINGS with something interesting or fun. As for boring of difficult PEOPLE, approach with love. Accept their flaws, look around them, and think of something that brings out their strong traits, and then focus on strengthening the weakness. 

This takes practice. Repetition is another important thing Suzuki taught. "Knowledge is not skill. Knowledge 10,000 times is skill." When a baby says its first word, they say it ALL THE TIME. Whether that's "mama" or "no", they'll respond to everything with it until they learn more words, and they'll use the new words, but still use the first one they ever said. "Twinkle twinkle little star" was the first song I ever learned on violin, as it is for many other violinists. I learned that song sixteen years ago and I still remember it. In fact, I've played it so much that's it's impossible for me to forget it!

Repetition doesn't just apply to music or studying. Repetition is consistency. I know someone who had a bad habit of cussing. They repeated "replacement words" in their head all the time, and got rid of the bad habit. They did not completely forget about the words, but they did put a stop to saying them. In fact, it made them think more positively. When they'd stub their toe, they'd be grateful that they didn't break it instead. 

If you want to lose weight and you know running will help, you don't run a whole marathon in one day and suddenly lose the twenty pounds you wanted to rid of. (If that happens then you must have a freakishly fast metabolism) You run a little bit every day, and you eat healthy. Step by step. 

I couldn't really figure out the one point I was getting at in this blog, but these are some things I have learned this past week. Hopefully it doesn't sound like babble..

In other news, I'M GOING TO COLLEGE THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM SO EXCITED IF YOU COULDN'T TELL. The only thing I'm nervous about is balancing everything. . . I guess I'll just take it day by day! Step by step.

Farewell, lovely Texas. 

The Journey

Today I taught the young women in my church and I was telling them how it's the "journey" that is most important. The final destination is your goal, yes, but how are you getting there?

One of my best friends, Danielle Fox, is serving a mission in Las Vegas right now. For those of you who don't know me, I go to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Young men and women can serve a mission starting in their late teens and twenties. Men serve for two years and women serve for eighteen months, and they are called to any place in the world, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and serving the world. 

Danielle was saying in an email about two weeks ago how it's all about the journey in this life. Yes, we would all like to go to heaven in the end, but going through the steps in a robotic manner won't get you there. 

My church encourages everyone to pray to God every day and study the scriptures every day, and to attend church every Sunday. It seems so simple, but sometimes our lives get so busy that we forget the purpose of these things. 

If you are doing this already, awesome. Don't stop. I do my best to read my scriptures every night, but I don't always succeed, especially when I'm absolutely exhausted. However, I think the least anyone can do is pray. Pray when you're in need, yes, but don't forget to be grateful. Communication is one of the most important things in a relationship, and it's important to communicate with our God, too! I mean He kind of created you, so take some time out of your day to thank Him for existing in the first place and ask him to help you know your purpose. 

For those of you who are not religious or believe in God for that matter, I invite you to pray anyway, and "pretend" there's a God, and see if you receive a response. No, you probably won't receive some amazing vision or voice, but if you are patient and faithful, He will let you know somehow that he IS there. I KNOW this more than anything else in the world I know. 

If you're really starting from scratch, start with a prayer. Find a quiet place and get on your knees and close your eyes. 

It's simpler than you think. 

I teach violin to young children, and they have to start from scratch too (especially if they're toddlers). Before they learn how to play and read music, they need to know the basics of holding the instrument and having good posture. 

Look at these nuggets. It doesn't get much cuter than this! 

These little girls aren't even holding bows yet, but they will, and they will create beautiful music and someday receive an applause. 

That applause is truly one of the thrills of being a musician. 

God wants us to return to Him someday, and he put us on this earth for a reason, so go find out that reason and get to work on that journey!

This is Danielle Fox, looking beautiful as usual as she's having the time of her life teaching others about Jesus Christ in Las Vegas! 

~Happy Sunday~

How have YOU improved today?

I have never been much of a blogger, so I hope this goes well. Actually, I've never blogged in my life. When it comes to social networking or sharing my thoughts, I usually tweet something witty or upload a picture to Facebook or Instagram. 

Right now I'm in this awkward "in between" high school and college bubble, which has granted me an awesome and long summer, but now I'm basically just sitting around waiting to leave for college. Most of my friends are already in their college classes as I type this, and I must say that I envy them. However, this has given me more time to think about my future and what kind of person I'm becoming and whatnot. 

I have days where I am feeling very motivated and productive, and then the next day will be completely unproductive and lazy, which I hate doing but I guess I'm human. Other days just seem to be nonstop. So, I decided I needed to come up with some sort of motto every day to remind myself of what I can do better the next day: How have I improved today? I think the key to being a happy person is making someone else happy. So, Who did I help today? Did I make anyone laugh or smile? Did I smile or laugh as well? It's amazing what kind of influence we can be on others with the smallest amount of word or action. Like, the other day I was at Target and this mom was struggling with her three small kids and their back-to-school supplies, so I helped her pick out what's best to get while my mom spent basically an entire hour in the gardening section. I have to admit I felt pretty good about myself, almost like an actual helpful employee of Target (I know that store way too well). 
Then, for the sake of our own physical health, did I eat ANYTHING healthy today? For me sometimes the answer is absolutely not. I mean this is 'Merica and there's junk food everywhere whether you like it or not. Did I do any source of exercise? I think even if you do not have time to go run (or swim, which I've preferred lately in this Texas heat), just do 20 jumping jacks and stretch your muscles so you can get that heart pumping. (or you can go on Pinterest and look at pictures of people with awesome fit bodies and motivate yourself to exercise). 
Then, of course, did I get done what I needed to get done today? This is where I have to prioritize; what is absolutely essential to get done, and what can wait for tomorrow. Time management is also required for this.

After I've mentally gone through the pros of today, then I ask: How can I improve tomorrow? Maybe I'll be more productive/helpful tomorrow if I wake up earlier, and maybe I should watch this Netflix movie this weekend instead of starting it at 12 am tonight so that I'll be able to wake up earlier. Tomorrow I'll put peanut butter on my toast instead of too much butter (or nutella). I'll do the dishes before I check my Instagram feed, maybe even clean the counter tops which I hardly do. Instead of heating up a pizza pocket for lunch, maybe I'll actually look for a quick, healthy recipe on Pinterest or in a cookbook and whip up something that my body needs. 
Was I really rude or snappy at someone today? Let's work on that attitude tomorrow. Today I was in a parking lot walking back to my car and someone backed out of their spot without looking and bumped me, almost running me over. I instinctively yelled out "HEY!" and immediately shot my death glare at whoever was in the car about to curse at them, probably a stupid teenager. Then I realized the driver was this frail old man, and his face full of fear and humiliation. I walked around his car to go back to my car and he rolled down his window, politely apologizing. I took a deep breath to regain my patience and politely forgave him. It's amazing how the smallest things can really throw me off, even if I just stub my tow or my zipper gets caught. But, forgive and forget. Think of the big picture. 

Now, I don't ask myself this every day, but at least once or a few times a week. Did I create any memories? If something super awesome, or awful even, happened this week, I wanna write it down or somehow record it so I'll always remember it. The other day my friend Madi and I went swimming and we wore three different swimsuits at the same time because we couldn't decide which one to wear. Why not? Who's stopping us?
Life is short so be awesome. 

For all you HIMYM fans, his guy says it pretty well I'd say.

Madi Bass and I creating our own trends. YOLO. #ididnotjustsaythat

How have YOU improved today?