Back in the Saddle Again (or maybe it's bench)

I have probably mentioned before that I am teaching piano again. Officially. I taught one student last year and that was great, but now I feel like it's all back in full force. I haven't really taught since right before Tyson was born and I was the traveling piano teacher. That feels like a completely different era, as I'm sure all of you parents can understand. I am loving this teaching from my own house thing. It is much more efficient, I don't have to plan driving time between lessons, and all of my piano library and resources are right at my fingertips. It's wonderful.

It's also wonderful to be teaching again. I thought it might be tricky getting back in the groove again after three years, but so far, I feel like everything is flowing pretty smoothly. I have a good range of students from newly beginning to more advanced and it is a blast.

Before starting back up again, I put lots of thought into how I was going to approach each lesson and kind of rethought-out my teaching style and how to introduce new topics. It was very cleansing and hopefully will be helpful.



I remember how energized and stimulated I was after every piano lesson I had. For real. It was the perfect natural high. I left feeling like I was ready for another weeks of practice and ready to take on the world ( of music of that is). I hope that I can share that with at least one student.

I'm excited to embark on this new phase of life. So far, Tyson has been sleeping through the lessons that happen during his nap and Kendra, our cousin/babysitter extraordinaire is so great to work with my schedule.

I need to thank my parents for the gift of a piano when we were married. It has been a lifesaver/ sanity saver/ source of income for us. Such good foresight on their part. But I'm not surprised. They are great when it comes to foresight.

This is the piano that I learned to play on. It has been very well used. Lots of strings replaced, lots of hammers fixed, lots of music engrained into the wood. Such a good visual for me to see daily. It reminds me of hard work, being younger and at home, recitals, and Christmas carols. The largest non-human object in our home that brings me joy.

Super Sista Senior Photos

I got to take some photos of my darling little sister during the time they were down visiting. She is so cute, I can barely contain my adoration. I wanted to post every single one, but will have to settle for a few......

A busy (and dirty) Saturday

My parents came to visit for a couple of days. Due to the impressive amount of family they have in this area, they stayed for a couple of nights with my uncle and aunt before heading our way. I couldn't have them only an hour away and not go see them! So we left in the morning and made the trek over the mountain.

We visited with my Grandparents and watched my Mom bottle beans. Dusty got my Grandpa to show him some old maps of the area and soon after we all decided to drive up to my Grandparent's cabin since Dusty had never been there. It's right on the edge of a beautiful National Park and very "out in the boonies" so we don't make it up there much.

Some of us rode in the blue truck and some in the "blazer", which is just a pieced together off-road vehicle basically. I feel that some of us were misled when told we would be riding up in a "blazer". :)



All of us in the second vehicle got so dirty and crusty that after arriving at the cabin, some decided to wash their hair out in the river. I was not one of those people. Something about dipping my head in water creeps me out a little bit I guess.



The cabin is quaint and private. There's so much work that needs to be done to it. Big plans to add a bathroom and another bedroom and deck. If only any of us would find the time to drive up there with the materials it would get done!



There's a little stream that runs right by the cabin. I remember it being 5 feet higher when I was a little girl. My uncles would bring up a backhoe and dam the river to create a swimming hole for all the cousins.





The trip was quick and exhausting, but good fun.

P.S. isn't my Mom so cute?

Random Thoughts

I can't believe that in a little over a week it will be September. I am really excited for fall time to arrive, but I am hanging on to the last little bit of summer as well. I didn't get enough swimming in, didn't get quite enough sitting out under the tree's shade, didn't get enough summer reads in either. So I think we will be playing catch-up for a few weeks before we fully embrace the harvest season.

I have spent the last two weeks glued to my computer completely absorbed with the updated Photoshop. I have been trying out new tricks and tips and doing rough edits to most of the photos. I have also been really enjoying PW's action sets. They are so much fun!

I have also had the daunting task of weeding out my photos, renaming them, burning them onto disks, and just basically deciding what my general organization system should be in the future. I have been using iphoto , which is completely wonderful, but Photoshop definitely eclipses it and I needed a new system.

All of this photo-doing has re-awakened my desire to create in the craft room so much. It had gone dormant for the summer but is back in full force! Yippie!

Dusty actually talked me into going camping. Shocker. I'm just not a camping sort of girl. It's not the dirt, or the fire, or anything like that. I just think it's pointless to drag a bunch of stuff up a mountain and back down the next day. That being said, I had a great time sitting by the fire doing some soul-talking with Dusty, eating good dutch-oven food, and enjoying the starry night. Next time we should just do that and then go home and sleep in our comfy beds.



Due to new things that are changing in Dusty's schedule, and the fact that he doesn't want to go running at 6 in the morning anymore, my sister and I moved out work-out time a little bit later. Can I just say that sleeping in a half hour longer is absolutely fabulous?

I can tell that fall must be arriving because I also have the overwhelming desire to paint. Should I start with my laundry room? My exterior doors? Or the stairwell?

I also want to start up a little preschool with other moms that have kids around Tyson's age. Something around once, maybe twice a week. Are any of you interested? Do you know of any good resources online to get ideas?

My hair is finally long enough to french braid again. I think the last time I did it was in 2002 when we were dating. I'm so excited to have longer hair ( if only I would take the time to actually fix it) and I want a new straightener to use. What do you use? I'm sure there's a straightener out there that is fabulous.

My parents and siblings are coming to visit tomorrow. I wish they didn't live so far away..... but it will be great to visit and do a few things.

Dusty and I took a spectacular little drive up our canyon and veered off the beaten path a bit. Here's what we found,

Are you kidding me?

My sister is so gorgeous. I would be jealous except that I love her so much.






Okay, so her husband isn't that bad looking either.... :)
They're going to have beautiful children.

Taking time off

from the blog that is.

I've been busy doing other things like: 

• taking a few days solo to visit my sister up north- so much fun
• editing lots of photos -oh how I missed photoshop
• weeding the beds/ deadheading/ harvesting
• going to see movies
• going to family reunions
• reading magazines
• chatting with friends
• enjoying the outdoors
• bottling veggies for later
• cooking yummy food
• beginning potty-training (wish me luck)