Well, my blog has been rather quiet here lately, but that just means I have quite a lot to tell you about (and I know you can't wait to hear about it, right??)! To spare you readers from spending an hour on here, I'll be nice and break these past few weeks into 2 posts; one today and the next one in a few days. So sit back, buckle up (it's the law!), and prepare yourself for a ride!

The first week of classes this semester had to be one of the busiest of my college career. Between work, University Singers, Cardinal 5, and classes, I don't think I've ever been on the move so much. Let's begin with classes. This semester is going to be a lot of work even though I'm taking fewer classes than last. My classes consist of a Band Literature class where we study and play a lot of pieces just so we can be familiar with what's out there, Psychology 100 (the good ol' basic core class of 200 people sitting through a pretty boring lecture 3 days a week), a jogging class which fulfills my physical education requirement (I love to run, so why not get a grade doing something I love to do?), Band Methods where, when paired with Band Literature, go hand-in-hand about teaching about the band classroom, and Woodwind Technique II where I learn to play the bassoon and oboe. All of these classes (minus WW Tech II) are heavy reading classes, so whether it's articles from magazines or chapters from a textbook, I've constantly got reading on my to-do list. It's also been the most expensive semester when it comes to books and supplies. For my Band Literature class, I'm required to purchase several music scores, each at an average price of $20, which will really add up. After this semester, I have only 5 classes left to take before I can graduate...how bitter sweet realizing how close to the end I am.

Moving on. University Singers has taken off to a HUGE start. The first week back, since it had been SIX WEEKS since our last show, we ran the whole show just to see what we remembered, and I must say, it looked pretty darn good. Of course we all had our mess ups, but for not doing it for six weeks, it was rather impressive. We spent the next few weeks reviewing what we knew, and this past weekend, we had a guest choreographer come in to teach us some new moves. Jarad Voss, a big name in the high school show choir world, came to Muncie, Indiana to work with the University Singers. He taught us choreography to Oklahoma-Texas Line (the Rascal Flatts song) and to Long Train Runnin' (a Doobie Brothers hit). His focus is on the hip-hop style, a style we don't often do, so needless to say, it took us a while to catch on. Nonetheless, after a few hours, we started to keep up and move at our regular pace. The choreography is a blast and it was great to have a chance to work with someone University Singers hasn't worked with before. Following the 9 hours of dancing, a few of us took Jarad out for dinner at Scotty's then we had a night on the town, which ended up being great fun! Now we are preparing for our University Singers Day performance tomorrow at Pruis Hall. At 8 pm, the group is celebrating our day (yes, we actually have our own day thanks to Senator Evan Bayh). It's going to be an hour performance with some group numbers, several solo acts, and some prize give-aways! Not to mention it's a free concert, so come if you're available!

My final topic for this post will be about Cardinal 5. I don't think I've really talked about this group much, so here I go. This year, Dr. Carter (at the request of the Alumni Center) put together a small a cappella group that could be used for small get-togethers where the entire University Singers group would just be too overwhelming. Well, from this request, Cardinal 5 was born. The members include our soprano, Chelsea, the alto, Ellen, Joe singing baritone, and I am way down there singing bass. Now, I know you're not dumb, so you're thinking, "Wait! Cardinal 5? You've only named 4!" Well, we are currently undergoing a personnel change, so a search for our tenor is in process. Anyway, let's just say the group has become a hit! We've performed at several receptions for BSU President JoAnn Gora, alumni events, caroling at the Minnetrista Cultural Center, and a few off-campus events.

During the first week of classes, President Gora invited us to travel to Evansville with her for another one of her receptions, so we packed up, got a university vehicle, and headed South. It's a good 4.5 hours away, so needless to say we jammed out to all genres of music during our ride there and back. When we got there (it was held at the Old National Bank Headquarters...very nice!), we quickly changed and went right on! We did our usual 4-number set, then were invited to stick around for the hor d'oeurves and the speeches that were to come. Afterwards, we got the chance to mingle with the alums, answer/ask questions, and even talk with the President. It was cool learning about how much has changed since some of the alums had been to the campus (and for some of them, it had been a while!). After the room cleared, we changed, packed up, and headed back to Terre Haute, which is where we were getting a hotel and staying the night. On the way there, around Vincennes, the van needed a gas up. So, I take an exit and look for the gas station the road signs had advertised. I don't notice it until I pass it because it was tucked away behind other buidlings. Therefore, I look for a place to turn around. A car wash, perfect. As I pull in, we can't help but notice how...DIFFERENT...this car wash is. At each station, there is a giant clown head, each one different than the next. Also, there is a giant pink elephant, a 13-foot Yogi bear, and a huge tiger head. We, being college students, decided to have a little photo shoot. Some of these photos are included below. It was cold and almost 11pm, so we piled back into the van, gassed up, and got to Terre Haute. We found a place called the Drury Inn (which we ended up calling the "Dreary Inn") and parked it for the night. We fell asleep around 2am (except for Ellen, who stayed up being studious and fell asleep around 5am), woke up just before 6am, and headed for Muncie so we could make our 9am classes if we had them. It was quite the experience and one we won't forget. I know I can speak for us all when I say we had a lot of fun and hope for the chance to travel again! Our next performance is tomorrow (Tuesday night) at the University Singers Day performance. Being short-handed, we're performing one number, Zombie Jamboree, definitely the group favorite. If you're around campus, come see us!

Part two will come along in a few days; what to look forward to? A trip to Chicago to see a musical, seeing two movies, and a few special purchases that I couldn't be happier about! Until then, enjoy a few pics from the above events!

 The above pics come from our choreography session with Jarad Voss.  Jarad is the guy in the grey shirt and yellow pants.

 Here are pics from the Cardinal 5 trip to Evansville.  As you see, I wasn't kidding about the giant pink elephant.  The final pic is us at 6 am leaving the hotel...after 3-4 hours of sleep...we were tired!