Great weekend so far!

My sister, Tiffany, came down south this last Friday and Saturday to celebrate our friend, Katherine's 21st birthday.  Friday night we had a great girls night and then Saturday we went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw John Williams live in concert!!!!!!!!  He was conducting his own music and it was absolutely AMAZING.  It was just incredible sitting through a concert hearing all of the beautiful music he's written.  For those of you who don't know who John Williams is, he has written the music from:

Star Wars

E.T.

Jaws

Indiana Jones

Superman

Harry Potter

The Olympics

Sabrina (the remake)  

Jurassic Park

Hook

... and many many more greats.  If you're interested, here's a link to his many compositions:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/

Sitting through the concert, I was in awe of all of the beautiful music he's composed.  It just makes me wonder what goes through a person's mind who writes such awesome music!  Really... how do you do that??  How do you hear the melodies and arrangements? Orchestrations?  AMAZING.

 

That was a great start to the long weekend.  Tiff had to go home Saturday night, but this morning (Sun), my Auntie Susan and cousin Brooke picked me up and brought me to San Diego.  We're now staying with and visiting with my cousin Jessica... it's the first time I've gotten to visit her at her house and it's just been really relaxing and nice to laugh and let your guard down with people who know and love you.   We also went to BJ's and had pizzookies tonight... mmmmmm :)

A couple more days of fun and school starts on Thursday!  Eek!  :)

Happy 21st Birthday, Katherine!!

Today I miss...

Burrito Loco tacoooooooooos!!! Mm...

I miss...

people who love me and give me big hugs.

Tired...

Music rehearsal camp is finally over... 27 total hours of singing in the last 3 days.  Enough said.

But good news! I finally got my new laptop... Macbook Pro! :)  It's so pretty... and now I can finally reconnect with all of you.  For those of you who didn't get one of my contact cards, my new address is:

Tamara Shibata

8432 Magnolia Ave. Box 1216

Riverside, CA 2504

(My cell is still the same... and so is my email address... poglovertcs@juno.com)

I have school email, but I'll mainly be using the juno address.  Just in case you didn't know, I LOVE snail mail :)  But who doesn't?  

It's only been 3 days, but I can already tell God is going to be teaching me a ton here.  It doesn't quite feel like home yet, but I'm getting settled.  It still feels like I'm on a trip and will be home soon.  I've met a ton of random people so far.  No lifetime friends yet :)  but I'll get there.

Love to all :)

I made it...

I'm finally at CBU - moved into my apartment yesterday and have already unpacked all my stuff. Finding a way to store all of my shoes was a task, but I found a way :) I'll post pics of my new place once I get my new laptop on Monday (my roommate is letting me use her comp)...

So yesterday was move-in/check-in. My family came down and helped me move my stuff in, took me to Target to get a few essentials and went on their way. I unpacked a little and then went to a music student meeting for announcements, then dinner in the Alumni Dining Commons and music registration (picking up music, pictures, and signing up for private instruction). Then I went over to an ice cream social in the ADC and met my Focus Team leaders (that's the group I'll be doing activities with during orientation). They were very nice and we had fun just visiting. Then back to the apartment to unpack more and sleep...

Today was a LONG day. Singing from 9am to 9pm. TWELVE HOURS... in case you didn't add it up :) I'm exhausted, yet refreshed at the same time. Lots of good music, sight reading, and tons of amazingly talented musicians. It's pretty overwhelming. I've never really been in an environment like this. Doc put me on the spot to sing in front of everybody already - geez, I thought I'd be okay on the first day! :) He played this game where he picked a song with a long solo and he'd just pick different people to sing the solo for awhile and then pick another person. When he explained it, I was dreading it, then thought he'd only pick veterans, but no. I was wrong. I didn't have much time to think... as I was avoiding eye contact, I heard "Shibata!" and looked up to see him point at me and start the music... eek! It went well, but it's just really intimidating cause there's just so much talent here! So pray for me if you think of it! :)

Okay, I need to sleep now.

I miss you all and hope all is well. Please keep me updated with your lives. Shoot me an email or give me a call...

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Taco night has been conquered... Tonight, Tamara Shibata finished a full plate of tacos (One plate = 6 tacos). It may not seem amazing, but you can't judge until you've tried it.

TRY IT.

Record:
Date: Monday, August 28th, 2008
Start time: 5:21pm
Finish time: 6:06pm
Tacos consumed: 6
Pain? Yes.
Vomit? No.
Again? Sure...

Dare to try? :)