I am musician. Hear me squeak.

I am a musician.  Most people recognize me as "that girl that plays the piano at church" or "the band director that I thought was an 8th grader."  Hopefully people also know me as a person who is trying to love God and others, but many know me as a musician.

I started playing the piano when I was 6.  And I was NOT a prodigy.  Not even close.  But I enjoyed it, and my mom taught me how to use the kitchen timer to set how long I needed to practice every day.  While I'm sure there were days she had to tie me to the piano bench for my 30 minutes, I'm also sure there were days where nearly begged me to go do anything else. 

In junior high, I joined band and started learning on my mom's clarinet.  That clarinet is now a lovely lamp in my house.  Being the overachiever that I am, I started taking clarinet lessons every week, in addition to my weekly piano lessons.  My junior or senior year of high school, my parents gave me a flute for Christmas and I started teaching myself.  My freshman year of college, Dr. Moore shoved an alto saxophone in my arms the Friday before spring break and said, "Congratulations, you're in the jazz band now.  Figure it out."

Throughout my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I was averaging around 4 credit hours/semester of private lessons, 4-5 vocal and instrumental ensembles and regularly playing for operas and musicals.  I was busy performing almost every week with these ensembles or as a guest in friend's recitals - and I LOVED it!

Then I graduated.

At first I enjoyed the break from the constant preparation and performances.  My first year out of school I was teaching private lessons and working as a substitute teacher, so while I wasn't playing as much as I was, I was still getting in a few hours each week.  My second year after graduation I earned a contract position as a full time band director, and my practice time quickly disappeared.  I tried to keep it up at first, but other things would quickly take over my time.  And almost before I could realize it, weeks would go by without playing at all.

Moments would pass where I didn't notice that I missed it.  200 band students can keep you busier than you ever realized...but recently, I find myself craving it all the time.  Playing at church is fun, but I miss the energy of a group of people tackling a piece of music with incredible focus and determination.  I miss getting a new piece of music and starting to figure it out, and then taking that new music and performing it for a room of people.  I miss playing.

So today, I started playing.  I got to school a little early, put together my clarinet, and started playing.  A few long tones (which don't hold out as long as they used to), some scales (some of those third octaves need the cobwebs wiped away), and some Saint-Saens (which sounded pretty good, if I say so myself :) ).  During one of the band classes I sat in with the clarinets and remembered what it was like to sit up straight and play with a group. 

It's been just one day, but it felt familiar.  I remembered the friends I made spending hours with them in theater pits and chamber music rehearsals.  I remembered how it felt to have a goal of performing a set of music with detailed excellence.  Music was my way of expressing myself for so long, I can't believe I let it get away from me.  Now, I am excited to experience music again.

I am musician.  Hear me squeak.    

Photo Book

I'm working on a photo album for our parents...

here's a sneak peek!

Click here to view this awesome photo book

Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Mrs. Crazy Last Name

Well, the last time I posted was just after I got engaged, so it seems appropriate that my next post would be after I'm married!  Greg and I got married just 2 weeks ago and he keeps telling me it was the best wedding he's ever been to.  It was great to spend some time with family and friends in the days leading up to the wedding, and the wedding itself...I guess it was my favorite wedding, too :)

My bridesmaids (and honorary bridesmaid :) ) were the 6 greatest girls in the world!  It was so wonderful to stay up late talking with these ladies.  I gave them a hard time about being my "blubbering bridesmaids" but it was very sweet to see how happy they are for me and Greg.  I've already promised Jessica I'll be a hot mess whenever she gets married, too.

The ceremony couldn't have been any more perfect.  The rehearsal was insane, which apparently is normal.  Someone should fix that...but anyway.  Ceremony was wonderful.  At the reception, Greg and I got to play a duet together, and he got to play the duet on his new marimba that he just got this semester!  We worked together to arrange "My One and Only Love" for marimba and clarinet.  We had our first dance after that, which has been everyone's favorite part of the day so far.  The jury's still out as far as I'm concerned...the power went out!  The first time was just a flicker and we all laughed our way through it.  The second time was a little longer, but still holding it together.  The THIRD time, it was out for about a minute.  It felt like at least 6 days, but everyone said it was their favorite part because they got to see Greg try and, as one person described it, "talk her off the ledge."

We had a photo booth, which was a HUGE hit!  I was in that thing at least 12 times.  And since it was my party, I got to go to the front of the line whenever I wanted!  Greg was able to hire the percussion teacher from his school to put together a combo to play for the reception.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about that because I never got to hear them until the day of, but they were fantastic!  I'm pretty sure they got some more gigs lined up because of how well they played!  The dinner music was light and jazzy, not distracting enough to stop the conversation at the table, and when dinner was over, they rocked out with some classic rock, oldies, pop, anything.  The person who got the dancing started?  My mom!  I'm pretty sure my grandparents will hate me for the rest of their lives, but we had an awesome time!

For our honeymoon we went to Gulf Shores, AL and spent a week lying on the beach, playing putt putt, and visiting Bellingrath Gardens and the Mobile Art Museum.  Greg did an awesome job planning the week!  We're already trying to figure out when we can go back!

Now, the honeymoon is over, and we've actually gone back to work already.  We spent this past weekend at Texas Bandmasters Association in San Antonio, and we start our summer band camps in another week.  We are still in the process of unpacking and settling into our house, but we love it and couldn't be more excited with the house we got.  Many, many pictures of the wedding and house will be up soon!

I thought Spring was the easy semester...

1st semester: check.  We're well into the 2nd semester...and I feel it will be crazier than the 1st!  I'm really proud of how far the junior high concert band has come.  We still have some behavior issues, but they're with a small handful of students that since most of the class is under control, we can work to smack that out of them.  I'm really excited to take these guys to contest in April.

High school...is slowly turning around.  Opposed to the junior high classes which I picked up in August, these guys I didn't really start working with by myself until December, so we're still in the figuring out my expectations stage.  A couple weeks ago they were so bad that I set up the band room like study hall and we wrote the band expectations for the entire hour.  2 days in a row.  They HATED me when they came in that second day, but now I just remind them that I will make them rewrite the band expectations if I'm not convinced that they know what they are, and they get quiet pretty fast.  Sometimes, I even enjoy being in that class :)

Next Saturday, I'm taking the color guard to contest.  We've been working since January and it's been a struggle.  This week was the first time I had a practice with 100% attendance.  I also lost half the guard gradually through the semester, which meant I was writing a new show every week for a while.  But now they all know the show and I think we'll have a lot of fun at the contest.

On top of all the work at school...I'm now engaged!  I am very, very, very excited, but I am now also very, very, very busy!  It's awesome that my mom is back in Houston until the wedding, because there is no way we could get married this summer if she wasn't here!

Chicken Fried Something Something

Hanging out with band parents selling some Chicken Fried Chicken dinners. Pretty much every Friday that we've have a home game, we've eaten some kind of chicken fried animal before the game. I know it sells well for fundraisers, but I'd be ok with a grilled chicken salad fundraiser.

I wrote my first guard show to performed in public this Friday. The girls seem to enjoy it, so hopefully that momentum continues into the spring so we can really train on rifles before I have a fall season full of girls with broken shins, torn hamstrings and bruised toes (yes, I hurt myself again. Shocking.). And besides, I really like spinning so I hope I get to teach it in the spring so I have a reason to keep learning.

Yesterday was a junior high solo contest, so I got to accompany about 15 students. One of the students forgot a line of her music, and when the judge pointed that out at the end the student simply responded, "yeah, I got hit in the head this morning on the way here." Junior high is certainly never boring.

What I have learned so far:

1. Parents are probably the biggest factor in determining the commitment and attitude that their kids have toward band.

2. Coffee is the biggest factor in determining my cheerfulness in 2nd period.

3. Kids will do just about anything for lollipops.

4. Let a 6th grade girl help you do something after school, and she'll be ready to give you her left kidney.

5. If you wear purple 2 days in a row, 6th graders will ask you every day for the next 5 weeks why you're not wearing purple that day.

In the beginning...

It's been 8 days and I haven't gotten myself fired yet!  I am enjoying this teaching position.  My favorite part is getting to teach 6th graders.  They're so excited!  They sit up straight every time one of us gets on the podium and actually like the games I come up with.  (The 7th and 8th graders think they're too cool for my games.  I'll win them over eventually.)  6th graders, however, are still getting used to middle school classrooms, so I still have to occasionally send kids back to their seats who have come up to tell me a story about their pet or what their favorite color is.  I think the best question that has been asked of me has been, "Ms. Hollowell.  As a member of this band, I need to know whether or not you are married."

Last friday was our first football game.  We still have to reinforce procedure as far as behavior and participation goes at the games, but they did alright for the first game of the season.  The football team won by like 20 points.  Which while it is exciting, I hope I'm not still going to football games at Christmas...

I'm still getting used to the early hours.  5:30 seems to come earlier and earlier every day, and it's only the 2nd week!  But it's not so bad.  I do like getting to listen to a whole podcast on the way to work in the morning.  And since I take farm roads to school, I get to see a variety of animals on the way.  Some of which aren't always fenced in...Also, I look forward to going to work because my fellow directors make me laugh a lot during the day.  They're kind of awesome.