Hey there!

Hi everyone! Is it just me, or is every post a "Hi! Sorry I haven't posted!" post? I'm going to change that though. I'm going to post once a week (I'm so busy, so once a week sounds reasonable!), and then work it up to posting every day.

Life is treating me well right now. I'm super busy, and I've had some set backs, but I'm working on keeping that smile bright and working though my problems. I haven't always been the best at the latter.

Obviously, I've been busy pushing a tire. ;) More on that story later! :D

School started (I'm sure you all know that by now, haha!), and it's kept me plenty busy. I'm trying out a new online school. It's really nice. You only have to do 2 lessons a week per class. The lessons are 2-3 hours though. But it's nice. I do about a class a day. I have 5 classes, so I'm usually done by the weekend. What frustrates me right now is that the portal is really slow during the weekend and the evenings (and that's the time I can usually get on!). They are working on that though, so hopefully it will be faster. I'm also taking a few classes at the local high school. I'm taking Orchestra (no duh haha!), Seminary, and German! German is... an interesting class to take. Some days I get it, and some days I feel like my brain is fried. I love it though, and I'm starting to catch on.

Youth Symphony started as well! We had a great kick-off retreat. We made videos to promote our Youth Symphony here and here (there are more, but they haven't been put on YouTube), and we voted in new YS officers and designed our t-shirts and just got to know each other better. It was so much fun! :D

That next Thursday was our first rehearsal. We had so much fun there too! Our conductor, Mr. B, was his usual self, jumping around the room, conducting us at full speed even though we had never set eyes on some of this music. That night, however, Mr. B passed away. It was so sudden. No one saw it coming. He was a great teacher and musician and will be sorely missed. I created a commemorative video and put it on my YouTube channel here. You should all check it out when you have a minute.

**Note: This is not my photo. This photo belongs to The Post Regester of Idaho Falls, ID. No copyright infringement intended. I just wanted to put it on this post because it's such a good photo of Mr. B!

Losing Mr. B has been one of the hardest things for me. For a while, I just couldn't deal with realizing he was gone. Little by little though, I was able to come to terms with it. Creating the video helped me unleash some of that anguish and emotions. I also went to the temple about week after his passing. It really helped me put things into perspective and helped me realize that- no matter how cliche this sounds- he really is in a better place and that he is happier, because he is able to do the Lord's work. I was actually able to write a song as well (and actually put music to it. Something I will have to talk more about later). It was simply amazing though, and I have really been able to write what I hear in my head. I really think it's inspired music that I'm writing. :) My friend is helping me write the piano part. Maybe some day I'll make a video for it. :)

I'm also looking into different careers. I would love to teach an orchestra, and because I'm sure that is what everyone sees me doing when I grow up. Music is still something I'm insanely passionate about. But, I love the gospel. I love going to church, learning about the church, teaching the gospel to others, and feeling the spirit all the time. Pretty much everything about being a Mormon, I love! I also love helping people and helping them work though their problems. Well, that makes a bit of a problem for me, because now I'm thinking of either becoming a music therapist or being a seminary teacher! Orchestra teacher, music therapist, or seminary teacher... I can't decide right now. Good thing I have some time to think about it!

Well, I think that's all for now. I'll try and post more often, I promise! :) Maybe the next post will be about some of the things I did this summer! Love you all lots!

Have a great day and don't forget your camera!

CheletheCello

Foto Friday-Day 1- How to make something (like an instrument) POP!

I have decided to make Fridays "Foto Friday". That's where I show you how to do your photos like mine :D Sometimes, its just by sheer luck that I get a photo the way I want it, other times it's more deliberate. Today, I will show all of you how to make something (like an instrument or person or other object) POP!

I'm going to use this photo: (it is also seen in this post)

***Note: I am using Picnik for this. I do not know how to do it anywhere else!***

You can do this with any photo, and of course you can experiment after step 6. :)

You can also click any photo on the post here and it will just pop up and will be alot bigger. It will not open in another tab unless you right-click on it and open it up another tab.

Eagle Rock Junior High and Skyline Highschool Orchestra Concert! (Oct. 13, 2011)

I just realized that I didn't post last night! :O I remember what I was going to post about, but I guess I never posted it...

Well, last night, the Eagle Rock Junior High and Skyline Highschool Orchestras had their first concert! :D Unfortunately, I was not apart of it... Things just didn't work out with online school this year. :/ I did go to the concert though, and they all did GREAT! :D My camera decided to be a pain last night though... I got a few different photos, but I only video taped 2 of the songs. My camera wanted me to reformat my card like 5 times... and then the battery over-heated... then it needed to be reformatted again... I swear that whenever I want to video tape a orchestra concert, it goes on the fritz! xP Gah! Well, anyway, I want to show you a cool photo I got and then edited once I got home.

The Skyline Orchestra!

Don't they look awesome? It's because they are! They are amazing and they did so great at the concert last night! :D Makes me really really REALLY sad that I'm not with them this year... :/ If they had a party to celebrate, they all totally deserve it :D (And Orch Dorks always have an orchestra party after a successful concert! It's tradition!) :)

Well, hopefully I can get the 2 videos up soon for all of you to see. :) Maybe I'll put a second post up later tonight. Well, I gotta run! Have a great day and don't forget your camera! :)

CheletheCello

ThePianoGuys, Steven Sharp Nelson and Jon Schmidt!

So, as you know, I play the Cello. I've gotten to meet a few amazing Cellists as well.One of them is Steven Sharp Nelson! (I would link you to his site, but it's been compromised again. :/ If you are willing to go though, it is http://www.stevensharpnelson.com) I first got his Sacred Cello CD in Christmas 2009 I believe. I got it at the Deseret Book store in my area. I got it because I haven't been able to find very many LDS Cello CDs. I immediately fell in love with his music! As I have gotten more familiar with his music, he has become more of a star in the eyes of the world. He has recently teamed up with ThePianoGuys. ThePianoGuys is a music dealer in St. George, Utah. They decided to combine their video-making skills with the amazing artists who were coming though their store. You might recognize their name because they won YouTube's on-the-rise channel contest last month. Steven is just one of the many.

Moonlight! It just came out this week! :D

I first got to meet Steven a few months ago up in Rexburg where he was playing with Paul Cardall. Before hand, I had just really met him online though email, you tube, and Facebook. Let me tell you, when I met him in person, I was so excited my hands were shaking! I was like a little girl meeting one of those Disney stars... I even brought my camera! But I was so excited I forgot to get a picture! (I think that can tell you how excited I was, because, you know me, a complete shutter bug!) It was a great concert though! :D It was mainly about Paul, but he let Steven and Marshal McDonald play for a few minutes. Let me tell you, I was in laughing fits the entire time! XD Let me write a portion of what I wrote for my journal entry that day:

My Cello!

So, if you don't know already, I will tell you now.


I play the Cello! :D I'm pretty good too (Well, that is what everyone else says. I still need alot of work though...)! I love my Cello (I'm not trying to be artificial here either). It has a sweet tone, and it's like, one of my best friends! I can always go to her (yes, she is a she) when I'm mad or sad and I'll talk to her and play music and I feel alot better! Her name is Timpani. If you know anything about music, Timpani is actually a type of drum that can change pitch. I wrote a little story about it:


" Once upon a time, in a not-so-little town in the United States, there lived a Cello player named Bekah. When she was a 7th grader, she went to early morning symphonic orchestra. Now Bekah was incredibly thick and nieve at the time (and still is ocassionally). Her orchestra teacher, Mr. Bull, said, "Ok, TIMPANI is right here." For a few weeks Bekah thought Timpani was a person who never came to Symphonic, but must have had great importance. Then a little while later, she thought Timpani was the musical term for a drum roll. But her thoughts them turned back to having Timpani as a person. After about 2 months of waiting for Timpani to show up to Symphonic, Rebekah went up to Mr. Bull after symphonic and asked him, "Mr. Bull, WHO IS TIMPANI??" "Bekah," he replied as he tried so hard not to laugh, "Timpani is a drum! Not a person!" She stood for a few seconds, letting it sink it, then exclaimed, "OH! Timpani is a drum!" and immediately burst into laughter. Everyone looked at her dumbfoundedly, wondering why she didn't know. 

A year later, when she bought her first Cello, she named it Timpani because of the happy memorie of symphonic orchestra. 

Now they use her Cello instead of the actuall drum. (jk jk jk jk!!)"

I've come a LOOOONNNNNGGG way since then, but I really like the name Timpani too! I'm going to show you some photos that I have taken of my lovely Cello too! :)

(I've recently added the "RT" at the end, because, you know, they are my photos! You can use my photos, just comment on the post below and please give credit where credit is due.)

:)

Yep, that's me! :D It really is! (And no, it is not photo shopped!)

Well, I hope to be able to give you all some videos of me performing, but for now you will just have to visit my YouTube site! It has me playing by myself, me singing by myself, and the orchestra that I am in!

Well, that is all for now! See you soon!

♫Bekah

School is almost out!!

The school year is almost over (Can you believe it??? I know I can't!)!!!!!! I'm sad too! I become a secluded hermit over the summer! I'm going to miss my friends, and seminary, and orchestra, and and and... :'O It makes me depressed! (you can tell I'm a bit of a social person... hehe) I don't do alot over the summer! Where I live, you can't get a job till you are 15 (like restaurants and stuff like that). I don't turn 15 till the summer is half way over! Many people aren't willing to hire either :P In the past summers, I've ridden my bike all over the place and went to girls camp (oh and last year we had a dance festival). Sometimes we travel too.

Well, this blog is about my life, through a lens, so I will give you some photos!

This one is our orchestra group. (which, BTW, you can follow here) I'm totally going to miss these guys once summer starts! They are amazing! Annnnnddddd next year 1/2 of us will be at Skyline! (well, maybe not half, more like 12 out of 15!) (and just so you know, I'm the 4th in from the left on the back row). These guys are like my 2nd family! Did I already say that they were amazing?

So, I LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE Cherry Blossom trees! They are so beautiful! Lots have been blooming here, so I have been in heaven for a while.I carry my camera pretty much everywhere, so while going to school the other day, I took some photos! :D I edit them with a photo editor called befunky. It's not too bad, though if you don't have a premium membership, it has 3-4 ads (that change every 2-3 minutes) and you can't use the cool stuff... But it is pretty nice!

(same photo, different style!)

Well, that is all for now. I need to get some sleep! lol! :D See you all later!

♫Bekah