Christmas Greetings!

Making it to the President's List (ie., having a 3.75 or higher GPA for the semester) may have something to do with my silence on my blog in the last several weeks. Reflecting on the four plus weeks that we have come through are somewhat of a blur. It must be either my caffeine is wearing off, or my body is still sleep deprived, or both. :)

But I do remember that the string quartet I was in this last semester had the great honor of playing Christmas carols in the university's widely acclaimed Museum & Gallery when it was open to the public early on in the month. Discarding the traditional black for the evening, we chose to wear festive colors.

Growing in friendships and musically with these girls this semester was great fun! For our chamber recital we played

Glazunov's AllaSpagnola and All’ Ungherese from his 5 Novelettes. Check out the links for an idea of what we were playing, played by real pro's...)

The rest of the semester was a whirlwind of completing classes, passing my senior recital note check, and taking eight finals. One of the weekends a couple friends and I went to watch the Nutcracker live, played by  the city's symphony. I think I would enjoy it more if I were to experience it again, since that night I was so, so tired. What I do remember was that I enjoyed it. :)

Prior to driving home for Christmas Break I went up to a surprise birthday party that was being put together for my Grandma's 85th birthday. It was the weekend right after finals, so it worked out perfectly to make the drive up north. She was completely surprised, and it was such a joy to spend a weekend with her. Michigan had lots of snow, too, which was a delight.

And now I've been at home for just under two weeks. What have I been doing? Mostly sticking very close to home and resting alot. Being a college student is exhausting (but oh so rewarding!!) and this semester was no exception. There have been a few occasions where I've gone out with my sisters, or up to the mountains for a morning in a coffee shop, or spent some time making Christmas treats in the kitchen, so I haven't been a complete lazy bum. ::winks::

With less than a week now before I head back for my last semester of undergrad, it is doubtful that I'll get anything added to my etsy shop (so sorry!). My priorities lie in some more rest and keeping up my senior recital repertoire. I'll spare you those juicy details, since most of you have had your fill of musical dialogue for one post! But I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas season and will have a joyous new year!

(If you love the delights of this season as much as I do, check out this wonderful new blog that will keep you occupied with lovely writings and pictures! I still have many more posts to catch up on, which I'm off to now after I fix myself another cup of TWG's vanilla caramel tea.)