Eroica

this is an excerpt from Beethoven's Erocia symphony
listen from 3.20, 3.55 is where the fuge starts. its is sso purely beautiful and painful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yn9IgOBjkU&feature=related


wonderful.

A little update

Naoko and I in Chicago in the beginning of December (I think... it was unusually warm that day)



Well, Im now 3 months into being 19, which means I only have 9 more months to complete the list of things I want to accomplish before I am 20.

The things I have yet to do are as follows:
- live in the same country as Anders (this will happen this summer!!!)
- run a 5k (I really should start training for that...)
- go on a camping trip (if I work at Concordia Language Villages, I guess Ill have that covered.)
- go to a college party and be the only sober one (well, I still have time on that one...)
- pull an all nighter while writing a paper (this one is difficult for me cause I just fall asleep haha)

I think that list is do-able for the next 9 months. :)


Ill keep posting how it all goes.

minner fra norge

jeg savner vertsfamilien min så utrolig mye. De var kjempe snille til meg at jeg fikk bo hos dem i et helt år. Jeg savner særlig når vi spiste frukost sammen og lagde matpakkene til dagen på skolen og jobb. Og jeg savner Karo og Ingrid, søstrene mine, som er veldig vakre og noen av de snilleste jeg har møtt i mitt liv. I sommern så kommer familien min til USA og jeg skal besøke dem i Florida. Jeg gleder meg skikkelig til det men jeg lurer på om vi skal snakke norsk eller engelsk. Uansett, så syns jeg at det er bra at jeg øver litt... Ja, ja. Jeg kan ikke tro at det har nesten vært 2 hele år siden jeg dro fra Norge. Jeg vil tilbake og være en utvekslingsstudent igjen. Men en dag så skal Anders og jeg bo i Norge men ungene våres og da kommer det til å bli helt fint. Og da kan jeg se vertsfamilien min oftere!!

Jeg begynte på en ny skole forrige uke. Den er mye vanskeligere enn Winona var. Men det er bra (bortsett fra at jeg har 4 timer lekser hver dag plus øving på bratsj og 5 timer i klasserommet) og jeg søker etter en jobb... Likevell så er jeg ikke i det minst opptatt. :P men ikke misforstå meg, jeg har det helt fint her i Milwaukee... Jeg liker ikke å bo hjemme hos foreldrene mine. Kanskje til neste år blir det Madison? Vi får se. Til neste gang, hade!

julen i norge 2009

christmas in norway with my wonderful fiancé anders and his family. (a little update friends and family reading this, a wedding is not to take place for 3 or so more years...)

here are some photos from this winter.

CRAZY LOVE

Michael Bublé's new CD, Crazy Love, is fantastic. He is a wonderful musician. And if anyone out there is reading this blog, I HIGHLY suggest you take a little time and listen to it. It will put you in a happy place.

The song, Hold On, is pretty much the story of my life, too. Check out the lyrics.

Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones.

I guess that we were once, babe, we were once, 

but luck will leave you cursed, it

is a faithless friend, 

and in the end, when life has got you down, 

you've got someone here that you

can wrap your arms around.

So hold on to me tight, 

hold on to me tonight.

We are stronger here together, 

than we could ever be alone.

So hold on to me, 

don't you ever let me go.

There's a thousand ways for things to fall apart, 

but it's no ones fault, no it's not my fault.

Maybe all the plans we made might not work out, 

but I have no doubt, even though it's hard to see.

I've got faith in us, and I believe in you and me.

So hold on to me tight.

Hold on, I promise it will be alright.

Cuz it's you and me together, 

and baby all we've got is time.

So hold on to me, 

hold on to me tonight.

There's so many dreams that we have given up.

Take a look at all we've got, 

and with this kind of love, 

and what we've got here is enough.

So hold on to me tight.

Hold on, I promise it will be alright.

Cuz it's you and me together, 

and baby all we've got is time.

So hold on to me, 

hold on to me tonight.

Almost ready to move on the bigger and better things

I'm only in Winona for 3 more 'school' weeks and I'm very excited to leave. It is not that I haven't really made any friends while I've been here, I have, but this small town with no place for the arts has just made it difficult for me to find my niche. I will miss some of the people that I've come to know, but I probably will fail to keep in contact, just like with everyone else in the world that I have met.

I don't really have a problem with that, but my inability to keep in contact, I fear, is only burning bridges with the friendships I've had.

Whatever, I guess. I just get annoyed by people who are satisfied with their lives in one place, so when I get up and go places I just feel bad for them and don't keep in contact. whoops.

I've only been good at keeping in contact with Anders. I guess that is what love does to you.

Ninja

I haven't posted in a while, but all is well with me. Here is a picture of Lauren and I at a cast party for the WSU Musical Two by Two a few weeks back. The plans are Madison for this Halloween weekend and then only a few more weeks until Milwaukee will be greeted by my face.

pictures of myself over the last few years

Peter Gabriel's music is quite theraputic

The last few days have been sort of stressful for me, so I'm listening to Peter Gabriel to help calm me down. Classes haven't been extremely difficult, but trying to find out what to do next year isn't easy. Part of me is screaming to get out before I get caught in this trap of small town and seclusion, but there is a part of me that is aching to stay here. That part is my wallet.

Mom keeps telling me not to think about the money, but how can I not when the facts are as simple as this: (approx. per year)

My out of pocket tuition -> Winona $6,600 UWMadison~$18,000 UWM~$16,000
Anders' tuition* -> Winona $18,000 UWMadison ~$41,000 UWM~$32,000

*Anders' has the opportunity to get some money from the Norwegian government and there are a few scholarships available... but not to cover everything.

It's not like I'm entirely unhappy here. I just wish there were bigger buildings around here, more to do, harder classes, and more art programs to choose from. It's a decently good school, so maybe I can make it work.

All I really care about is that Anders and I will be in the same place studying to get our degrees so we can have a better life for us and out family someday. Is that too much to ask?

College Tests...

I found out my score today for my first college test... 38/38 baby!!! That's a 100%. I enjoy getting good grades, now I just hope I can keep it that way.

I joined the International Club and last night I went to the first meeting of the year. I came to a room full of smiles and foreign accents and skin colors. I was actually one of only three white people in the room. Most of the exchange students are from Taiwan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. I'd never met anyone from Bangladesh or Nepal before and they are two countries that I long to travel to. This guy from Spain wants to go there to go bungee jumping... I'm quite sure that I'm in.

While talking to these folks I experienced more of the international college experience. We talked about how they afforded to come here and most of them are only paying around $9,000 a year. That's $5,000 less than I am paying. There are multiple scholarships that Anders can pay for, so we're hoping he'll get some of them.

Anyways, I just ate a lot of goldfish and I don't feel so well. I'm gonna drink some orange juice to wash them down and then I'll be off early to bed. Good night!