.....A "GRAND" Kind of Blessing! :-)

I am so thrilled!  I went back and forward on whether I wanted to share this or not....trying to be on the more careful side with posting making sure I post things in a giving mode and not a all about self social media mode....finally I was like...why not on this one...this was something super special in my life.  .....my family and I had been praying for a grand piano for me.  Those things are crazy expensive....they can make buying a vehicle look cheap!  I am sooo super happy to have the piano now, but it's more exciting for me knowing the true source of where it came from. God gave that to me I'm sure at a just wonderful price.  I couldn't have afforded it otherwise, and it fits really well in my living room. Sure, you can find grands for a couple of grand $$ on Craigslist or eBay, but who knows what shape they are in.  Buying a good quality one rebuilt with new parts from a piano store is another story and it came with a super long warranty!  I didn't like the bench that came with it shown below, so they accommodated me and gave me another bench that matched it as shown in the pics of the piano actually in my home now.  I am very appreciative to God for answering our prayers and giving me this, and to my Dad and Mom who sacrificed and gave me the opportunity as a young child to learn this instrument.  They were not rich by any means....probably more the opposite.  I think God just opened doors as they wanted to give us the best they could.  They sacrificed so much for my brother and I.  They put me in piano, voice, and flute lessons throughout my childhood, took us to places like an inside tour of the White House in DC and Disney World in Orlando, they put my brother in boy scouts and helped him become a recipient of the Congressional Award, they encouraged and helped both my brother and I to both be able to go to college and get our degrees though you wouldn't know....if you're curious...it is in Advertising and Graphic Arts.  ....I don't use my degree at all.  God had other plans in life for me I guess or I chose the wrong major that wasn't in the "willed plan" LOL, but my brother actually uses his computer degree with his job.  :-)  We're truly appreciative!  Parents classically rock!  Now, back into taking lessons again as a 30's adult.... I must work even harder at it to make it worth this blessing and now that my parents have gotten older, seeing them so happy that I'm doing this pushes me even harder to achieve greater things.

Above YOUTUBE video explanation and PIANO UPDATE for those interested:

The Wedding Day at Troldhaugen piece cut in half.  Full length song play time for me is at about 8 minutes flat when I play it straight through.  For this recording I cut it in half cutting out bits and pieces to test out my new set of keys and try to prevent boredom in viewers since this is not a performance quality recording, only an exciting...sound tester....though the piano shop will have to come back in a few weeks to tune it once it's settled as they put it.  On another note, my teacher asked me to perform this piece and another one at a recital she is hosting in two weeks, so depending upon if she records it or not, we'll see if I obtain a video of my 14 minutes of fame or shame LOL, to be exact, with both songs played in full back to back.  I'm excited to break the ice on being on stage again.  I grew up playing in recitals on stage a lot way back in the day, but that was when I was a kid and sooooo very long ago.  This isn't my big recital.  That's still months out, but this will be a good ice breaker with 14 minutes of straight playing on stage.  You can hit the brackets, right bottom corner, to make video full screen if you wish...vid is dark.  Oh, and in being myself, I wasn't going to buy the film making software, so sorry for the advertising banner during the video, but it was free!  Some say it's cheap, others say it frugal.  You choose!  ;-)

BELOW:  Pic of the piano in the store

BELOW:  Pics of the piano in my home now.....I love the Mahogany wood.  The wood is super heavy too....solid.  The piano itself measures at 5'7.

 ....the bench the piano shop gave me as a replacement since I didn't like the one that came with it...so nice of them!  It's duet sized, and it opens to put your music in it.

 The super excited grand piano owner.  :-)  I'm excited about having it, but I'm more thrilled knowing it was a blessing.  I never thought I'd actually ever have one in this physical life.

 This was a double blessing for my family.  My niece, Sophia, seems to really like the piano.  Every time I play she'll come in, and she sits herself at the piano bench and tries to play any opportunity she gets.  ...and for a 2.5 year old, she has learned really just over the past month, to hit one key at a time as opposed to banging like many kids and it actually sounds pretty decent in a sense.  She has even tried to sing while she "played."  When she's old enough to play I think Mark J. is going to teach her which we are thrilled about.  I think he is one of the best pianist.  Anyway, since I have the grand, Sophia automatically inherited my upright piano which was a good piano in itself.  The piano store mover was kind enough to move that one over to my brother and sister in laws house for free.  That was such a blessing too.  Another perk to having family next door.  So now Sophia is all set to take piano lessons once she is old enough.  She's knows not to bang on the keys, so it will be kept well.  My brother said that he heard her on "her piano" one evening this week for about one hour straight trying to play, and Sophia has told me that she cannot wait to be old enough to start piano lessons.  She's thrilled!  I took a picture of her with "her piano" in her home when it first arrived, but "her Aunt Carolyn" accidentally deleted it from her camera and doesn't want to pay for the software to restore it.  ;-) ....below are an older vid and pic of Sophia always showing interest in the piano though.

an even younger Sophia below....

...so what was my original formal dining room which I never used was converted into a piano room....

...below the old piano room now with the upright piano gone over to my nieces home.....I'm planning to convert it not back to a formal dining as that was wasted space for me, but into a little quaint sitting parlor....more furniture will be required.....but we'll wait and see what pops up....no rush...

...rest of the piano update....

  Right now, I'm working on 9 songs at the same time.  They are all super long and difficult for me, but they are coming along nicely.  I pray about it, and then I always get it.  My longest song is a sonata that is 25 minutes with all of the movements played.  I think that is my scariest piece.  I've never been able to do this before, and it can be rough, as it's like I've allowed myself to purposely be dropped into the deep end of a swimming pool, but so far, I'm staying afloat; with God's help I am 100% sure.  It's requiring getting up at crazy hours in the morning before work after prayer and Bible study, and then after work as well.  Basically, it's my extra curricular life other than the essential basics.  Hoping to be able to serve God with this for all eternity, that is if He wants that.  That's why I'm doing it.  ..so far it seems as it is being blessed, so it's incentive to carry on.  Trying to raise the quality of my playing to the highest standards that I can.  Thanks for everyone's encouragement who has given it to me, thanks to my amazing piano teacher who is patient and just very helpful. (She has her masters degree in piano and is sooo fantastic and puts up with me....late bloomer pianist Carolyn) ....a fantastic teacher, she really knows her way around the piano and teaching, and thanks especially to my parents who are my number one source of encouragement and supporters.  If it were not for them, way, way back when I was 7 years old, I would have never started piano, b/c they pretty much made me and I kept it up until my early 20's and then let it go for over a decade, and now in my thirties, getting back into it much to their joy.  If my parents hadn't given me the background in the past, and the encouragement they are giving me now, I would not be able to do what I'm doing.  Many thanks to them!  Now, back to the grind.  :-)!

When Things are too Heavy for me.... :-)

This pic was shot back before the HD's when I was cleaning front desk reception area of Hall of Ad.  Doug C. and Bailey C. are both strong enough to move my credenza.  Doug moved it last year for me, and Bailey moved it this year.  Strong men.  Also, that bird that Bailey is holding is solid and super, super heavy.  He makes it looks so light!  Thanks to the strong guys help;  the reception area has been efficiently cleaned every spring.

Last DULB Lunch at Dan's

 A few pics from a nice last DULB lunch at Dan A.s home. Had a lovely time thanks to Dan's hospitality with Sarah I., and Benjamin T.  We missed Paulette!

 Paulette made this yummy dessert....chocolate spoons.  Benjamin and Dan actually used the edible spoons to eat a portion of their dessert before they became too melted.  Paulette was sick and couldn't be there, but sent her dessert anyway.  One of the sweetest gals I know!

 Dan's yummy stuffed pastry with potatoes.  Apparently it's a Canadian thing.  Tasted yummy!



NTBMO and 1st Day of ULB Pics

Here are a few NTBMO dinner pictures of our experience this year for those wanting to see.  It was a bit different because my father and mother were both sick with their health problems and were not in attendance, so we missed them, but it was a joyous evening with the the rest of my family at Mr. and Mrs. Kirby's home along with the lovely Cheyenne C.  It was such a nice evening, and it's always exciting to hear everyone's stories of how they are where they are now in life with God as their center.  We're all so blessed and thankful for that!

 I really liked Mrs. Kirby's decor for this elegant, royal evening.  Love and Hope!  It's what life is all about.  I need to get something like this to put in my place.

Mrs. Kirby bought my niece "spoils" from the store.  Sophia is a two year old jewelry fan, I mean big time!.....so she was well pleased with her gift of a purse stuffed with little children's jewels like rings, necklaces, tiara's, hats...ETC.  I joked and said I wished I was two.  LOL!  I remember receiving gifts on NTB when I was a little girl, and it makes the evening memorable and stand out for the little ones as they grow older.

....even though my parents couldn't be in attendance, we didn't want them to not be able to celebrate on this special occasion, so Mrs. Kirby was so kind and made them each a plate to go along with some treats (above and below) as well.  That was very thoughtful of her, and I was able to take them their food before we ate, and then get back to the Kirby's on time to eat myself with everyone else.  That way, we all could eat together at the same time though in different places.

Cheyenne helped Mrs. Kirby get the food ready that day.  I'm going to miss this gal when she graduates AC next month.  A real sweetie.

 There is something special about this pic of my sister in law and niece that makes me really like it.  Maybe it's Sonia's beautiful smile.

 Princess Sophia crowned herself, and then went through her spoils of the evening.  :-) 

 The S. Coats family relaxing before dinner.

 ....four pics in a row of her checking out her gifts makes it safe to say she liked them!  The funniest part of the evening for me was when, a little later on that evening, Sophia was playing with a toy and then patted the floor for me to come sit by her.  Right before I sat by her, I told her I would fall asleep if I sat down, so she removed the toys, wouldn't even let me touch them, put them up in the bag they came out of, and told me I couldn't go to sleep.  Mr. Kirby joked and said that she could just wake me up, and Sophia responded to him "Oh, no."...and then said something like "she won't."LOL!  I guess I have a rep with the niece as hard to wake up......I wonder why?  Two year old reasoning.  :-)

 ....Whatcha doing?.....Oh, you are taking a picture of Aunt Carolyn and I......I'll smile!  Take two!  :-)

 ...something about this pose catches the eye. 

The Food!

Appetizers!

 Main Course

Fruit and Dessert Course

The Setting

 I liked all of the lights they had put out.  They were burning bright and strong with brilliance beaming!  ;-)

This was a very special evening that will definitely be remembered.  Thanks again to the Kirby's for having us over on this elegant night.  It truly was a night to be remembered which is what it is was all about!

1st Day of ULB Lunch!

A BIG thanks to Aubrey M. for having a few friends over for lunch on this day!  It was such an enjoyable time.  We're so blessed to live close enough to each other to get together in this way.  That's definitely not something to take for granted.  Here are a few pics from that lunch!

The Nice's take such lovely photos.  Beautiful family!

One of my fav pics of the C. Brown family....so nostalgic to me.....I have known Conner and Melinda since 2nd grade, we've grown up, even moved from Texas where we grew up to the state we are in now.....I bought a house....Melinda roomed with me......they got married....got their own house....had two children.......and we're still "together as friends" in our 30's now.  We're destined to be together maybe like forever and ever I guess.  ;-)

Josue M.s cheese cutting skills unveiled.  :-)

Reese Z's veggie cutting knife skills unveiled.  :-)

Adar's hair looked so nice!

 Funniest part of this lunch is when the dog snatched a cap, in record timing, from the juice little Mary was drinking and wouldn't give it back.  Mary was not a happy little girl but the dog was.  LOL  The end of the story was that Aubrey was able to get the dog to spit the cap out, so the dog is okay, and Mary was okay in the end too though she didn't get her cap back after the dog had, had it.  ;-)