Fall

What a busy semester! Tyler and I are both looking forward to having a  bit of a break next week with Thanksgiving. A lot of great things have happened in the last few months. Here are a few highlights:

Tyler and I enjoyed a few days at Disneyland with just the two of us in August. It was so much fun! We played hard, and wore ourselves out every day.











We went on our annual Table Mountain hike. We went up the face for the first time, which was pretty grueling, but we had a great time.







My sister Joni and her husband had a little baby boy at the beginning of October. He is sure a cutie.




Tyler finished the Halloween concerts the weekend before, so we enjoyed a low key Halloween at home answering the door.



And last but not least, I finished my doctorate!!!!!! On October 18th I defended my dissertation to my committee. They really put me through the paces, and I felt pretty beat up afterward, but I passed! Here is a picture with my advisor.



It is pretty strange to think that I am actually Dr. McNiven now. It doesn't really feel like it most days because all of my students on campus call me Sister McNiven. I'm still waiting for that first piece of mail that has Dr. McNiven on the front. :)

I've had a lot of people ask me if life is getting back to normal now that I'm finished. I don't really know what to say, because I've never really known anything but being in school. Ever since Tyler and I have been married, I've been working on my doctorate. I think we are working on redefining "normal" at our house. I'm still plenty busy with teaching, but it feels a lot less stressful. When I'm done teaching for the day, I can actually relax a bit.

We'll try and stay a bit more up to date from now on.  :)

Amazon

We decided to give a little scale to the hugeness that is our tomatoes (don't mind my grungy summer break clothes). There are five plants. Needless to say, these are our babies. :)

Summer Projects (Part Two)

I took another pottery class this summer with my mom. I tried my hand at coiling, slabs, and the wheel again.



Coil project. I'll probably end up putting a plant inside of it at some point. I like the honey/blac glaze.


My one wheel project. I actually got a pretty decent thickness this time. It's hard to tell, but the color is kind of olive green/tan.


Slab project. I had fun with this one. I wanted it to look like the inside of a viola with the base bar and everything, but I still stained it. It's not totally to scale, but it looks cool hanging in my office on campus.

I've also been working on a few crochet projects. Here are a few of my favorites. The first one is for a nephew coming this October.


I only did a few booties, since they take a little more thinking. These have cute flower buttons.


I love this aviator hat. I may make a few more of these.




It's been a fun summer, but I'm still looking forward to a few more adventures in the next month!

Summer Projects (Part One)

My dissertation draft is in to my advisor, so I have a few weeks to relax now that the semester is over. I've been loving spending time outside in my vegetable and flower gardens. This year's weather has been particularly ideal for growing vegetables, as long as we keep everything well watered. I'm definitely not a pro, but we do have good soil and a nice sheltered yard, so we are doing pretty well this year.


Front flower garden. I love how the color combination turned out this year. A little of everything.






We should have enough onions to last us through the winter again.


We have three summer squash plants are a few days away from having ripe squash. They are just starting to get big.


Our lettuce is a little out of control I could have sworn I planted it in a straight line. . .



We have quite the bean crop. I've never seen leaves this big (bigger than my hand), and I'll be picking beans Monday or Tuesday.




Our amazon tomato plants. They are almost up to my shoulders, and are finally producing fruit. Salsa anyone?

We also have a strawberry patch, plum tree, peas, peppers, and cucumbers. I better start stocking up on canning jars!

Five Years Later. . .

And I still can't get enough of this guy! Happy Anniversary to us!

Dissertation Fun

That sounds like an oxymoron, right? Usually it is, but I had some fun with it a few weeks ago when I was at the data gathering phase. Since I developed a new questionnaire, I had to conduct a pilot test with experts in the field to make sure everything was as it should be. I tried to conduct the test, but my survey tool was not working. I switched to a different software, but had to make sure the questionnaires would actually work before wasting the pilot testers' time again, so I had my family help me out.

I made all of them take all three questionnaires (about 30 questions total) just to make sure it would work. I made the mistake of telling them they could answer the questions however they wanted, since it wouldn't be part of the survey. When I got the responses back, most of them made me laugh out loud. Some of them told me random stories, some wrote haikus, some just gave me sarcastic responses. It was very entertaining.

I thought I would share a few of the gems:

Asking about their performance experience

- If I had a dodgeball team, I would name it.....

- My distinguished solo career consists of forgetting my piano solo and leaving the piano in disgrace. My ensemble performances happen on every birthday. I'm the only one singing on key, just not the same key as everyone else.

- I use them to intimidate people.

- I like Burns.

Asking about performing as a faculty member:

- We are better than you....

- I sing with joy when I get my office to myself.

- They make me feel good about myself.

- Lisa owes me a pizza.

Advantages of performing:

- And we know it!!!!

- I'm definitely more focused on work when I don't have to listen to jibber-jabbering from the other side of the office

- Show students how lack of practice can make you look bad.

- I don't even know.

Disadvantages:

- Just kidding, that is from a movie.

- People hear me singing with joy and bring me more work to shut me up.

- They can see your bald spot when looking down at you.

- How long is this thing?

Other good ones:

- Sometimes you break a string, sometimes you dont.

- I need to repaint my toenails.

- I like turtles.

- Our house is a mess.

The list goes on and on. I have a strange family, but they sure know how to make me smile!

Sunday afternoon project

This hat was super easy and lots of fun. I started and finished it this afternoon. I am totally in love with it. Now I just need to find a baby girl to try it on!

More Crafting

For two weeks, Tyler was out of the country. He went with a student music tour to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It was very hard having him gone, especially the first week when phone calls didn't even work. He had a great experience, but we're both happy he's safe at home again.

While he was gone, I spent a lot of time at my parents' house. I found an adorable pattern for baby booties, and wanted her to make them for me (no, I'm not pregnant, they're just really cute). She wouldn't make them for me, but promised to teach me how to crochet.

I think I'm hooked (no pun intended). It is a lot of fun, and although I still make a lot of mistakes, I'm getting better at hiding them. After a few practice booties, I made these two pair for a friend who just had twin baby boys. They are way too big for those little babies now, but they sure will be cute in a few months.

Artistic Roots

My mother is very artistic. She oozes creativity. Everything she touches turns to some amazing wall hanging or darling baby outfit. Me, not so much. I have memories of me being in her painting class when I was young, and I ended up with a bright blue wooden horse. I have plenty of musical creativity, but not so much with the visual.

This last semester, however, I dug deep to find my artistic genes. I signed up for a non-credit beginning pottery class with my mom and sister. They are both art majors, so I knew I had built-in tutors. I am pretty proud of my projects. The first one was a pinch pot, meaning I shaped the whole thing by hand (no pottery wheel).




The second one was a bowl made on the pottery wheel. I like it because it is a square bowl.





I signed each piece with my own special signature. :)



The last one was really a semester-long project. I decided to make a tower, which turned into a clock tower. It's kind of a combination of the Rapunzel tower and Big Ben. I had to shape every stone by hand, which took forever! Over the last few days, I painted it and put the finishing touches on it (with some guidance from my dear mother). I think it may be my office clock on campus.

April Fools!

I didn't really do anything for April Fool's Day this year. Usually I look forward to tormenting my college students on this fun little holiday. It's especially effective since April 1st is right at the end of the semester, and they are all a little tightly wound anyway. :)

One semester, I sprang a dictation test on my musicianship students. They wouldn't have bought it, but I got two or three other students in on it, so we managed to panic quite a few of them for a few minutes.

Another year, one of my classes was schedule to have a solfege test (you know, do re mi fa, etc.) on the hymn If You Could Hie to Kolob. When the first group stood to sing the test, I "reminded" them that they were supposed to do it memorized. There were a few panic attacks in the room before I let them in on the joke.

I also teach a Music History class to Juniors and Seniors. On April Fool's Day one year, we happen to be having a review session for their final test. They all knew that the review questions were representative of questions that would be on a final test. For the first few minutes, I asked the most detailed, difficult questions possible. I was completely serious when I asked the questions, and the students reactions were priceless. Needless to say, I could 0nly keep them going for so long before I felt to badly for them. :)

My favorite April Fool's Day memory was when I was a little girl. I woke up one morning to find myself in my brother's pajamas. My parents had switched us during the night! I was young enough that I just thought it was funny. Unfortunately for David, though, my pajamas were all frilly nightgowns. The best part of this is that my parents have it all on video! We all broke into David's room to find him cowering under his covers. We bugged him for a while, trying to pull off the blankets. We all thought he was pretty embarrassed. Little did we know that he hadn't even yet realized that he was wearing a lovely red nightgown. When he did figure it out, he let out a horrified shriek, and a red streak flew out of camera view. That is some priceless video.

The long, long, LONG road

Working on my dissertation feels like that 135 mile marathon in Death Valley where you have to have a full medical team for every runner. If I had any advice to give to someone starting in on a dissertation (besides DON'T DO IT!), I would tell them to plan on it taking 5 times as long as you think it will. I had no idea I would have to rely on other people's schedule so much. I send a draft to my advisor, and two months later I get some feedback. It is beyond frustrating, but at least I'm still (slowly) moving forward. I finally have my proposal scheduled. I know, a proposal sounds like the very beginning of the dissertation, but it most definitely is not! That proposal is 75 pages of my blood, sweat and tears. It is also the first three chapters of the final dissertation. Anyway, my proposal is scheduled for Friday, April 13th. Friday the 13th! Fortunately, 13 is my lucky number. Besides, I took my comprehensive exams on September 11th and aced them, so bring it on!

Whatever doesn't kill us. . .

I've been thinking about trials lately, and how they are usually for our benefit. On Friday I was talking to my mom about some of the things that I've gone through in the last few years. They haven't been fun, but I know I am a better person because of them. My mom also commented that I am a much better musician now than I was before all of this. I play more musically, with more heart. It is interesting that life experiences can affect my playing so much. It made me think of my days as an undergraduate music major. I was working on a Brahms Sonata. I was playing everything on the page, but there was something missing. My teacher stopped me and said, "You haven't lived life enough to play Brahms." I didn't really get it then, but I get it now. Brahms has heart and soul. There is a depth to his music that a 20 year old girl who has lived in Rexburg her whole life can't possibly understand. When I play now, I play with all of the joy, heartache, frustration, and experience that comes with life.

I taught a lesson yesterday to a college student who just got dumped by his fiancee. They were supposed to get married next month. I've been worried about him, hoping that he would be able to move on with his life. When he played for me yesterday, though, I was blown away. It was the most beautiful playing I had ever heard from him. There was heart. It was very moving. I realized that he was able to use this experience to make him a better musician, and a better person.

I hope we can all recognize the blessings that come from difficult experiences, no matter how large or small they may be.

So glad I said yes. . .

5 years ago today Tyler's family had a concert here in Rexburg. We had been dating for about four months. It was a crazy day for both of us, teaching for me and setting up for Tyler. My whole family came to the concert that night. I thought it was nice of them to support Tyler's family, but apparently they thought something pretty exciting would happen that night. After the intermission his brother asked me to bring something up to the stage to help them with the raffle drawing. When they called me on stage and wouldn't let me sit down, I realized there was something more going on. . .

Click here to see my pathetic music skills on the spoons. :)

Fun Times

I know posts have been few and far between. I'm busy. Fortunately, I love being busy, so I'm happy. We had a great end of the semester, and Tyler and I thoroughly enjoyed our two-week break. We were able to spend a lot of much needed time together. We also had a great Christmas. My baby brother came home from his mission the week before Christmas, and my older brother flew up from New Mexico with his cute little family. We had a great time, and I had too much fun to take pictures. We also stayed in a cabin over New Years and enjoyed sledding, skiing, snowshoeing, and lots of unhealthy food. I love my family.

I'm excited for this upcoming year. I think 2012 is going to be a great one. I decided to make a few New Years resolutions. Instead of wishing for things that are somewhat out of my control, I'm going to focus on what I can control, and becoming the best version of me possible. I want to eat better so I will feel better. I want to have more enriching "me-time". I want to finish my dissertation so I don't always have homework looming over my head. I want to make more memories with my husband and take more pictures.

Here's to a new year. I hope it's a great one for all of you.