Danielle Blog

‘Twas the last week of Advent

Things that have been going on lately:
- I am really close to being done with grades for this semester! I ought to be able to wrap them up by noon today (Monday).

- our school (work) Christmas party was Friday. I bought a great new dress at Dress Barn for $40! Accessories cost more than the dress! I’ll wear it for Christmas Eve and get someone to take a photo of me that night and post them on Flickr.

- The party was a lot of fun. I realized just how many people I know at school now! I know a LOT more than last year at this time! I also had an opportunity to talk to some people about music and I may be in a new band/group now as a vocalist. We’ll see how that pans out.

- I went to see the touring production of Beauty and the Beast on Saturday! It was amazing! The vocals were just perfect. The set pieces/staging and design were really intriguing. The costumes were fun and gorgeous. I took my binoculars this time, so we were able to get a really close view of the costumes.

- I haven’t upgraded my camera or purchased any accessories for the 6 years that I’ve had it. Until now. I was thinking about buying the most inexpensive speedlight (flash) that is available. BUT I found out that it is strictly an on/off flash and doesn’t have the ability to do TTL (through the lens) light monitoring. I bit the bullet, splurged, and bought an SB-700 from Nikon. It is an AMAZING flash. I’m still learning how to use it. So my photos are in a bit of a transition state right now. It will be good to have this break to try to learn more about it.

- I used it for the birthday party for my nieces who are now 2 and 5. I also used it for the children’s Christmas program at my church. I never would’ve been able to get the photos I captured at the Christmas program without it.

- speaking of church, I sang a solo yesterday. “Precious Promise” by Steven Curtis Chapman (from his Music of Christmas album). I sang it in my soprano voice instead of my low alto/tenor range, which is always a little trickier for me. But this song called for it, I think. Anyway, the first verse was a bit shaky, but I closed my eyes, tried to think about the message of the song, said a mini “God help me do this!” type of prayer, and the 2nd verse, bridge, and third verse really turned out well. I may try to record it later once I finish grades.

- also with church: I’m on an email list for a daily scripture and interpretation. These last couple of weeks have been really amazing. A few of us have started some email discussions about some of the passages and how they speak to us, or where we struggle with them, and it has been really good for me spiritually. My faith journey and my spiritual growth sort of goes in fits and starts, it seems. This year, I’ve been on a steady rate of growth (and at least have not been flat), but this past month or so has been a bit more accelerated. So, that has been really noteworthy. I’m glad. They are also starting a new bible study at church in January which is finally going to be on a night that would work for me. So, I’m going to try to find out more about it! Yay!

Okay. I guess I’d better start going through this last stack of assignments so that I can finish grades.