Five Things You’d Never Know About Me
Here we go. The first blog post of my new website. It’s a great way to introduce myself to you and what a better way to do so than to share what you might not know about me, which for some of you will be everything!
This post is likely the best way for you to understand how I came to be myself. At least, as I am now. We continue to change and evolve and that’s a beautiful thing. These five things paint a picture of how I got here, what I love, and what I’m passionate about. Time to share.
NUMBER ONE: I THOUGHT I WAS SHY; I WAS REALLY ANXIOUS
In pre-school I refused to talk. It wasn’t until my mom came to help in class that I said anything and one of the students told my mom, “She knows how to talk?!” I ended up repeating another year of pre-school to help with my social skills. When we moved to a new school in elementary school I spent hours in the bathroom crying because I was nervous to meet new friends and adjust to a new setting. In middle school I would get tears in my eyes if I was called on to read. I was a very strong reader, but the fear of mis-speaking and everyone staring at me gave me incredible anxiety. I would give anything to not speak in front of my peers. I didn’t sing in front of my parents until my senior year of high school. They heard me sing when I was a young kid, but then went years before hearing me again. Singing in vocal juries and for recitals in college made me feel like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Share in district music educator meetings as a teacher? Never! Who would want to get ideas from me? What did I have to share?
Little by little I’ve learned that I could turn my anxiety into excitement. To use my nerves to create energy. To use my voice to speak and sing and share. There were several life experiences that helped me gain confidence.
The most recent outlet that truly helped me gain confidence? Podcasting. Sitting on the floor in my closet with a computer, mic, and headphones to share music education content helped me realize that I had plenty to share and that others were happy to learn from me. Podcasting opened up opportunities to share virtually and in-person. My little pre-school self wouldn’t believe it if she could have known what life would look like now.
NUMBER TWO: I DIDN’T REALLY LEARN TO COOK UNTIL 2020
I grew up learning how to open a box of mac-n-cheese, heat hot dogs in the microwave and cook frozen store bought pizzas in the oven. My husband is a phenomenal cooker (as my girls say it) and took the lead in making our family dinners ever since we were newly married. I’m a lucky girl. I love baking, but a few years ago I wanted to begin helping out with dinners now and again. I needed a place to begin to learn how to make real meals. So I set a goal to cook every Saturday. This gave Jeremy one day of the week to relax and it helped me to grow more comfortable in the kitchen. Little did we know the pandemic would hit and this once a week meal would turn into one of the best parts of our time at home.
I decided to only select recipes from The Magnolia Table Cookbook by Joanna Gaines. Each Saturday I’d select a meal to make. I”d head to the store for the ingredients, ask Jeremy where things were located in our cabinets, and set to trying out one new recipe every Saturday. The girls would often join in helping to select a meal they were interested in trying.
We found some of our favorite meals this way and some of our favorites desserts too. The chocolate cola cake with chocolate cola buttercream is now the cake we make for all our birthdays. And sometimes just because we love it so much.
NUMBER THREE: I’D BE HAPPY TO NEVER HEAR FÜR ELISE EVER AGAIN
If you’ve ever taught piano students or had a student excitedly tell you about this new piece that they learned only to have them play the same half-step introduction to Für Elise repeatedly followed by a somewhat accurate playing of half of the melody line you might relate to this feeling. Für Elise is one of the songs I most dislike in the entire world. And unfortunately it’s one that students often want to proudly show off when demonstrating their piano skills.
I try to smile and ask them what other piano pieces they’ve learned in hopes that they’ll share something else. If they keep playing, I tolerate it with as much of a smile as I can because I would never want to discourage them from enjoying music.
If they ever asked me what piano piece I loved, I would share that Chopin nocturnes are my favorites. My grandfather loved Chopin and worked with me in learning to play them. I love a melody in a minor key with lots of leading tones, dissonance, and emotional play between a major V chord and a minor i. But I have yet to have a student ask and so I continue to endure the beloved (to them, not me) Für Elise.
NUMBER FOUR: I MIX UP CLICHÉS
“I’d like to pick your ear sometime.” This is something I said to a coworker once. They looked at me strange. When I came home and told Jeremy about it he laughed and told me that it was either “bend your ear” or “pick your brain.” This isn’t a rare thing that occurs.
I mix up clichés constantly! We get a good laugh out of it.
Another one that we still laugh about:
“Hindsight is 40-40… because it’s better than 20-20.” And I was dead serious.
I’m sure there's more, but we couldn’t remember them. You can bet I’ll share them if I do.
NUMBER FIVE: TEACHING WAS NEVER ON MY RADAR