Lately

-Spring break at my parents' house-

-The monumental day when Drew finally replaced the broken lens in his favorite RayBans-

-God's great handiwork on a beautiful March morning-

-New fav H&M blouse, and new fave way of wearing my pearl F21 necklace-

-God's great handiwork part 2- also, Georgia is pretty-

-Exciting and monumental performance at CBDNA for Baylor-

-Cutie cute boyfriend snuggles-

-This sweet boy that I get to see in a week from today-

2013, you are going by FAST! Happy end of March and Happy Easter everyone!

I want to share with you a significant worship song for me this past year or so, and oh so relevant to the miraculous Easter morning!

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door.
Then He arose, over death He had conquered.
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore.

Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him from rising again!

Oh Glorious Day :)

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HOW TO: Make dinner without grocery shopping. Ever.

Ok, so I exaggerated a little bit. Its not like I don't ever grocery shop....I just pretty much put it off for as long as possible ;)

Today I am channeling my inner Darbi Elliott, who by the way has a hysterical (slightly undiscovered, and I really don't know why!!!) blog about food/eating/cooking. Good grief, she will have you rolling! Go visit her right now!!

I've been on muscle relaxers, which isn't making me as loopy as I've heard it would...bummer....just kidding. Kind of. (that really doesn't pertain to my post, I just thought I'd let y'all know) but on top of them not really making me loopy, they aren't even really working!! Yet at least. I've heard it needs to build up in your system a bit though....so here's hopin'!!
I pretty much feel like I should delete all of that but its there, so there ya go...

FOOD!

A lot of times I want to eat something substantial, but I don't really want to put the effort into preparing a meal, you know??

Today I made this interesting concoction: how about the final photo first?

Yes, I am aware of my MAD food photography skills...maybe one day.

I had frozen tortellini, but no sauce...and lunch meat.....but no bread (good, right?)

So anywho, boiled up some tortellini (love it), drained, and added olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, and parsley.

Don't add too much olive oil. Thats gross.

You betcha, I scrambled eggs in that same pan for lunch! What....eggs and ham go together...

Fried chopped lunch meat. Awwwww yeah. Now you know I'm REALLY a grad student.

Throw it all together and YUM. 

Now I'm wishing that these photos were pinterest worthy because this recipe I just pulled out of who knows where is so good.  Try it!!!

Remember that one time I made up a soup recipe?

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ONE MORE THING! Yes I'm feeling quite loopy now, but seriously guys I'm catching up on The Voice (WHICH IS THE BEST EVER WHY AM I YELLING?!) and this is just a bunch of holy cow I just died of goodness or maybe my heart is just melting great singing. On. Repeat.

The Final Countdown

So which should come first: good news or bad news?

I never know.... 

How about good? There's a pretty picture that goes with that one.

No this is obvs not me- its some skinnimini skyhigh model...

Remember that time we bonded over recital dresses and which one/what kind I should pick?

Well- that navy beauty (not at all what I had in mind) is the one! 

Kind of like the one when you find the boy and you call your mom and say "Mom. He is the one." 

Anyways, I'm not even CLOSE to that tall, or that straight up and down, and I bought it too big so I could have room to breath....or maybe I bought it too big because it was the only one left and it even took me forever to find a photo online (thats how sold out it is)....RUN ON SENTENCE! 

But anywho- I think its lovely, its super comfy, and I don't have to hold my boobs in when I bow (remember we're talking about a flute recital here!) so this dress is pretty much an all around win!

**Sidenote: now that I look at that photo again, doesn't it look like she was pretty much stretched up? Crazy.

Now the bad news....

My 2nd graduate flute recital is in less than two weeks! (Okaaaay, that's not the bad news)

But I'll make it short- I've have physical problems from playing the flute for a good 6 years now. Tendinitis, mega tension, numbness in my fingers off and on, record breaking muscle knots- you name it! Off and on, its probably happened to me, but that's a different (and not short) story.

As a result of (probably) the lovely day/night bus ride home from tour, ridiculous amounts of stress, and playing the flute A LOT, I started having some crazy bad muscle spasms in my back today. So bad that I ended up crying during our orchestra rehearsal of Beethoven 9. Embarrassing!

So I went to the doctor and got muscle relaxers. Pretty much told him "AHHHH MY GRADUATE FLUTE RECITAL IS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AND IT HUUUUURTS AND I NEED TO PRACTICE AND AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!!!" 

Yep, that is about how it went!

This is where you come in, friends!! I took some lovely drugs and am feeling a little bit better, but I need to make it (successfully) to my recital, and your prayers would be greatly appreciated!! I can tell you quite honestly that nothing but the Lord will be able to get me through these next few weeks. AMEN.

Also- it would make my life if you live close enough to Waco to come to my recital! Promise it will be loads of fun and I'd love to hang out with you after! Let me know?

Y'all are the best! Hope you've had a wonderful Wednesday :)

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Curly Fries

Well, sad day in Waco, TX.

It looks as though Jack in the Box will now be receiving my business for my once every month or so "I really want curly fries right now..." craving. (You're welcome)

I mean- I like healthy food as much as the next person. Look at me! For lunch I had fruit and an avocado/ham sandwich in a flax seed/whole grain "sandwich pocket"! (Don't you dare tell me that isn't healthy- LALALALA I'm not listening!!)

But enough about healthy food...my beloved Arby's right off of University Parks and 1-35 is gone.

RIP, Arby's.

I don't know why they tore you down, but I will miss you and your fake looking probably fake roast beef.

Does any one else in the world even like Arby's? I'm convinced that I have this special connection with it since my moms told me she craved Arby's all the time when she was pregnant.

Arby's curly fries are better than Jack in the Box.
"Isn't there another Arby's in Waco?" you ask...Well, yes.
But am I driving that far to get curly fries when Jack in the Box is right there? PSH! no.

So I'm sitting here chowing on my curly fries that soaked through their brown paper bag with oil.
Hooray for you and your healthy self!
I'll join you tomorrow.

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TWI and My Three Bittles 1,000 Giveaway!

This weekend absolutely flew by!!

We (the Baylor University Wind Ensemble) left Greensboro, NC at 9am on Friday morning and got home around 5:30am on Saturday morning. Yep, you read that right- all nighter on the bus.
Bring back high school memories, anyone? Yuck.

*If you're curious as to why the Baylor University Wind Ensemble was on the all-day/all-night bus ride from NC to TX, you can read my announcement post here, the "in-route" update here, the Nashville update here, and eventually I'll get around to writing about the conclusion of the trip ;)

So, obvs on Saturday I slept from about 7am until 2pm....woke up, cleaned, laundry, repeat. Fun fun!

I know you wanted documentation of that glamorous huge ol' pile of laundry....4 loads worth to be exact.

Sunday really wasn't much different- I feel like I'm still trying to recover from the trip and the billion hour bus ride (seriously too old for that....)

Quite honestly my weekend was NOT exciting, and for that I am thankful.

BUT THIS IS EXCITING! :)

Amber from My Three Bittles recently hit 1,000 followers (Go Amber!!) and decided to throw together this pretty stinkin' massive giveaway! I mean just check out the prizes >>

I hope you all had a great and more relaxing weekend than I did, and I leave you with this note from Amber!



"My Three Bittles hit 1,000 followers a bit ago.I want to thank you all so much, SO much!And a special thanks to these lovely ladies for helping me celebrate! $100 Target gift card.$75 Amazon gift card.$50 Forever 21 gift card.$25 Starbucks gift card.$25 Paypal cash.These lovely ladies.Bam!Need I say more?!"a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now (this is Paige again)- if you are one of my lovely new GFC friends, please leave a comment so I can find you in return!!

Celebrating 100

We (the Baylor Wind Ensemble) are officially on the road headed home after an extremely fruitful 7 day tour.

Today is not the day for all the details about the rest of the tour, but I can say that is was fantastic and a HUGE success for both our ensemble and the university!

Hugs to all my new GFC and Bloglovin friends! I'm very excited you are here. 

Be sure to say hello so I can stop by your blog in return!

Now-I still feel like a total newb to the blogging world, but today I'd like to do a little recap of where I've been so far so we can get to know each other!!

1) Once upon a time, I wanted to be a fashion blogger, but "ain't nobody got time for that!!!"

     I did have SO much fun on my photoshoot with Sarah though, and you can see more of her photos 

 here and here!

2) I shared my guacamole recipe with you. I promise its bomb.

    I also tried my hand at experimental made up recipies and came up with a delicious "tortilla soup!" 

3) I bragged about my super talented awesome boyfriend.

4) I shared my Pinterest decorating idea.

5) I've talked about my dog, Winston. A lot. 

6) I shared with you, my blogging family, my exciting story about how I decided to move to England.

I hope you've enjoyed getting to know me a little better! 

Happy Friday everyone, Welcome, and leave a note with your blog address so I can find you in return!

FREE KitchenAid Mixer!!

I am so excited to be a part of this wonderful giveaway with Emily (and friends!) from Newlywed Moments :)

This was possibly poor planning on my part to be helping with a giveaway while on tour and attempting to blog from my phone.... But don't you want a FREE KitchenAid?! (I do....)

**Here's a note from the Newlywed herself!

"Today is the first day of spring!!

To celebrate, Newlywed Moments and friends are giving away a KitchenAid Mixer!!

Why? Because it's a newlywed must-have.

I absolutely love my mixer. I can just leave it mixing while I finish up another part of dinner! It is so very helpful! One lucky reader will win this white-colored KitchenAid Classic Series 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer! "

Rules & Information:-- Giveaway is open to U.S. readers only.-- The winner will be verified, so please enter honestly.-- The winner will be notified by email on 3/27/13 and will have 24 hours to respond.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Music City

Hello friends!

First of all, I've been absolutely floored by all of your support with my England story and this Wind Ensemble tour! You guys are seriously the best, and I had no idea what a wonderfully community I was getting myself into when Sarah introduced me to blogging just  a few months ago! Thank you thank you :)

Time for a Wind Ensemble tour update! Life has been a little crazy-I almost wish I could share our hourly itinerary with you, but that would be a little TMI.

Right now we are on our lovely bus (that is currently getting stone-age speed wifi because most people gave up or are sleeping) leaving Nashville and headed to Atlanta!

Nashville was GREAT. I tweeted (posted a tweet..?) about our concert last night and got a retweet by the Nashville Symphony....so I'm pretty much famous.

We spend the morning rehearsing at the Schermerhorn Symphony center in Nashville which is amazing and beautiful and holy cow what an honor to play in that facility!! After our rehearsal we spent a little time with Giancarlo Guerrero who is the conductor of the Nashville Symphony and a Baylor grad! What an humble and incredibly inspiring person! We were all glowing with pride at the way he spoke so fondly of his time and Baylor, and he was so generous to share his experiences and encouragement with us.

I'm dying to post more photos, just so you know, but the wifi is being mega sucky...

Drew and I in Nashville. I liked this wall so I made him stop and take a photo. Isn't he cute?? :)

Performing at the Schermerhorn was a fantastic experience. I think we were all honored to play in the hall- you guys, it is seriously one of the best acoustically (and beautifully!) designed performance halls in the country! Very cool. I'm going to try to post a bunch of instagram photos here at the end of the post...

Cool Story: Drew's friends that live in Nashville got to come see him at the concert! And I got to meet them! They are such a beautiful and talented couple- I've heard so much about them that it was about time I got to hug them in person! ALSO, important, they are both Nashville musicians! Be sure to check out Daniella's new single "He Sighed"-- I promise you will fall in love with her!

Now, completely UN-tour related!!

A HUGE thank you to Laura at Girl in Flight, who recently mentioned me as one of her favorite blogs! I am so honored by her kind words and I encourage you to check her out! She lives in England and I'm totally hoping to meet her when I move there in September!! (can we make this happen??)

And one final announcement- I'm stoked to be a part of a KitchenAid giveaway starting TOMORROW with Emily at Newlywed Moments and friends! Be sure to come back tomorrow or visit her blog to enter for  your FREE KitchenAid!! Seriously, how awesome is that??

**and now, a billion instagram photos that my lovely friend Catherine gave me permission to steal**

In Route

I wanted you guys to see the lovely campus that I spend my LIFE at :)
Welcome to the Baylor School of Music front yard via instagram and photocollage!

Anywho- tour update!!

Guess who didn't have wifi on the bus? THIS GIRL.

Mega bummer considering I have a research paper, program notes, and and independent study project to be working on this week. That will probably work out well.

Just a quick update to remind you that we (the Baylor Wind Ensemble) are on tour!
Like- right now! 

I'm actually checking in with you from Little Rock, AR- so if you're here HELLO!

We will be playing at Immanuel Baptist Church tomorrow morning so if you live in Little Rock- come see us! It will be a great morning.

Another reminder that the rest of our schedule looks a bit like this:

3/17/13- Little Rock, AR, Immanuel Baptist (morning service)

3/18/13- Nashville, TN, Schermerhorn Symphony Center (SO COOL!!!)

3/19/13- Atlanta, GA, Murray Arts Center

3/20/13- Greenville, SC

3/21/13- Greensboro, NC @ 8:00PM LIVE STREAM HERE

Or you can check out my initial post about the tour HERE.

Since everything is about the tour at the moment, I wanted to share our program bio (as an ensemble) with you!

"The Baylor Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Eric Wilson, is the premier wind band of the Baylor University School of Music and has been praised as one of the flagship programs in the nation. Performances at previous state and national conferences in the country were characterized as “nothing short of spectacular” and “representing the best in wind band performance.”

The Baylor Wind Ensemble’s program on tour includes exciting music of intriguing and diverse styles, and features Dr. Jun Qian performing a foot-tapping work originally written for Benny Goodman. Their CBDNA performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is the culmination of a multi-state concert tour."

Program:

Schoenberg: Fanfare on Motifs of "Die Gurrelieder"

Lindroth: Passage

Gould: Derivations for Clarinet and Wind Band, Featuring Dr. Jun Qian

Colgrass: Winds of Nagual

Intermission

Bryant: Ecstatic Fanfare

Dooley: Point Blank

McAllister: Gone

Alarcón: Duende

Here is a teeny tiny photo of the group since we're so big! Sorry ;)

Happy weekend to you all, and don't forget to let me know if you plan on attending on of our concerts or live streaming!

WE Tour: Coming Soon Near You?

As some of you know, my grad assistant duties are divied up between an intermediate conducting class, coaching chamber music, and being an administrative assistant for the Baylor Wind Ensemble.

Sounds like a handful? Yep.

BUT, no complaining here! I love it and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be working on my Masters YAY!
(no sarcasm- serious!)

**Stopping this story to bring you the current news:

THERE WAS A SPIDER IN MY BED. CRAWLED RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER THE COVERS WHERE HE WAS APPARENTLY AT HOME, JUST TO SAY HELLOOOOO.

Don't worry, I jumped up REAL fast, said something I normally wouldn't, and then killed it REAL good.
And then I check the bed 5 times, shook out the sheets, checked the pillows, checked the bed again, checked the walls and floor around the bed, flailed a little bit, tweeted about it.....and sigh.

Alright, and I'm back to talk to you about the Wind Ensemble Tour (while I keep seeing things move out of the corner of my eye and feel creepy crawlies on my feet).

Baylor flutists 2012. Aren't they pretty???

The Baylor Wind Ensemble recieved the respected invitation to play at the national CBDNA conference this year in Greensboro, NC. Exciting!

This means we're packing up all 70-something people, their instruments/music, 8 days of clothing each, and hitting the road! Talk about a crazy scheduling process...

Anywho, we'll be traveling by bus through Little Rock, Nashville, Atlanta, Greenville, and Greensboro (and then all the way back to Waco) so if you are at/close to any of those locations it would be SUPER AWESOME if you decided to grab your family and friends and bring them to a concert! 

And then you could meet me ;)

Our schedule looks a little bit like this:

3/17/13- Little Rock, AR, Immanuel Baptist (morning service)

3/18/13- Nashville, TN, Schermerhorn Symphony Center (SO COOL!!!)

3/19/13- Atlanta, GA, Murray Arts Center

3/20/13- Greenville, SC

3/21/13- Greensboro, NC @ 8:00PM LIVE STREAM HERE

So I hope you will let me know if you are in the area! I may even be able to get some comp tickets for you ;)

Send your local family and friends our way, and feel free to link back to help advertise if you want to!

Do you live in our tour route? Will you plan to see us live or streamed online?

Winston Weekly

In honor of Spring Break (HAH- I'm back working already for our upcoming Wind Ensemble tour and my upcoming recital plus a mega research paper...so my Spring Break was kind of just one weekend...)

ANYWAYS, how about we celebrate with some grainy instagram puppy photos? :)

Before I got home, my dad sent me a text with this photo saying "Winston, wheres Paige?!"

What a big meanie! They tease the poor baby by asking him where I am and then he goes nuts until I get home.... It is great to see him so excited though :)

And yes, he sits like that. Weirdo!

This was my last chance snuggle on Monday morning before I had to take off back to Waco!

Miss him already!!

Hope you all are having a good week :)

England

A few short weeks ago I was mourning the end of my potential flute performance career.

Okay, that's a bit dramatic, but feelings are real!!

I honestly felt as though my lack of acceptance into performance programs in the US meant that I would at the ripe age of mid-20 be moving back into my (wonderful) parents' house to teach as many little band nerds as I could cram into my schedule....all to try to make money so I could find somewhere to move and something to do?

Do I follow the boyfriend to DC?
Do I stay in Waco to take lessons with FA and to teach my students?
Do I move to Houston (parentals location) and start a flute studio?
Do I up and move to NYC with a girlfriend to try my hand at being a starving musician?

Yeah, it sounds a whole lot of "what am I doing with my life?!?"

This is not a photo I have taken, but a daydreaming "googled" photo of Sussex...

Although I plan to take many photos like this in the near future!!

And then out of nowhere, England happened. 

I was convinced to apply for a prestigious program in England to study with the legendary Trevor Wye. Much to my (extremely pleasant) surprise, I was accepted! 

And in a huge whirlwind, I have decided to accept and move to England in the fall!!

Isn't the Lord funny? 

"Hey God, I don't know WHAT you have planned for me but we better figure it out fast cause I'm starting to get anxious!!"

"Ok silly girl, why don't you just move to England."

....What?!

So that's what I'm doing! 

These are just a few of the things I been daydreaming about.

I know for a fact that living in England will not be all tourism and fun photo ops.....
BUT I'M REALLY EXCITED!

So until then-

Sunday Social

Blogging over coffee with no cares in the world is something I've ALWAYS (ok, maybe just the past few months...) dreamed of doing.

Although the "no cares in the world" part is pretend.... HELLO SPRING BREAK!!

*Sidenote: Currently jealous of my boyfriend who is sleeping in the guest bedroom at my parents house WITH THE DOG. 
                    The fact that Winston chose him over me.....*sniff. Maybe I'll just go steal him (the dog) back.



1. What is one movie you are terrified to watch?
First of all, I HATE scary movies. I'm the biggest baby, and anticipation and/or lack of music gives me the heebie jeebies!!!!! No no no no no. Also, the last time I was forced to watch a scary movie, I quite literally through a temper tantrum. Scream/flailing and all. Not my finest moment.
But honestly, the first movie that came to mind was The Passion of the Christ. That may sound weird or a little bit silly, but when the movie came out and everyone in the church was going to watch it (I think I remember our youth group reserving a theater and going together) I couldn't bring myself to go! I'm not sure what it is....shame, grief, fear? The passion story bring so much pain to my heart without the clear visualization  that a movie can bring. Still can't bring myself to watch it. 
I kind of feel like I should have stuck with the scary movie paragraph....but feelings are real people, and this is my blog!!
2. What is one tv show you have wanted to get into but haven't yet?
Hmm...not sure! One tv show I want to get into, have tried, and can't is Breaking Bad. Sorry! I know everyone loves it, but I just can't! 3. What is one daring activity on your bucket list?
Moving overseas? Haha well, I've honestly never even considered that before it was going to happen. So my answer would definitely have to be sky diving. Maybe its the diver in me...I love jumping off high things! 4. Would you ever travel alone?
I have quite a bit actually. Music takes you pretty fun places for so many reasons! For auditions and summer festivals, I have been to (in no particular order): Miami Chicago Evanston Ann Arbor, MI Muncie, IN Pittsburg Baltimore Los Angeles  Like a big girl.  5. What activities do you like to do alone?
Watch Downton Abbey so I can sob in peace.  Grab a cup of coffee and link up for the Sunday Social!  Have a blessed and relaxing weekend!