From Cardinal to Husky: Life, Drums, and Princessery

I know, I know. The title is lame.

I had a really profound one, 

but I didn't want to mislead you, the reader, into thinking that I had a strictly "deep" post to follow.

Life is just incredible, isn't it?

It has a way of getting you caught up in the moment, then suddenly it hits you-- you are now looking back on all the time that has lapsed.

Seeing how I have not posted since May 16th, I realize just how much has happened in so little time.

Luckily, Facebook and my laptop's calendar remind me of what all has happened in these past months.

Let's see here... 

The Month of May:

Josh and Braxton, my talented friends from across the country:)

Brief shout out to my lovely brother's of Christ and best friends Braxton Ray and Joshua Brumley for graduating from their high schools in Louisiana! If I could only have been able to trek the 2649.5 miles to see y'all on one of the best days of your lives. 

Congratulations!

In other May 2012 news... 

Princess Carly, Princess Angela, and I all helped teach an etiquette class to the 12 contestants for the 2012 Little Miss Meeker Pageant! We drank tea, ate cupcakes, and got to explore the beautiful Meeker Mansion, of Puyallup. It was a very nice experience, and I got to know a lot about these little girls; a small group of young ladies who helped bring back more of my belief in the upcoming generation.

Other than that, May was chalk full of work, work, and more work at the Hollow.

"Formal" Jazz Fest Photo

Oh, and I was able to play drums! :)

Drums on May 27th at Fox Hollow,
My last Jazz Gig.

I have awesome supportive siblings!
Rylee and Taylor :)

Moving on...

The Month June:

My, oh, my! 

The month that I had both been praying for and dreading to come.

June. Such a fun-filled, exam-packed, chaotic month that I had taken for granted for the past 12 years... All coming down to wire, the last moment that I would ever walk the halls of Orting High as a student. 

Let me slow down, I'll go to the very beginning of June, before all this emotional "Cardinal leaving the nest" thing gets out of hand...

Let's start with June 2nd: Music Camp and UW Husky Drumline Auditions.

I started the day with the wee "campers" of Ptarmigan Ridge, teaching Mallet Percussion and trying to keep their 3-5 minute attention spans on point. 

It became really fun, actually, with Tyler Dietz and I fiddling around with some selections from over the years, such as "Rites of Tamburo", "The Siege of Rhodes", and a recent favorite called "Celebration Tribalesque". We then let the kids play the Xylophone, Timpani, and Bells to get a feel for how fun and well-rounded being a percussionist could be. Of course, we couldn't help but take out the "magic" (wind chimes) to put the small kids in awe of the pretty sound drums could produce.

I absolutely love working with kids; it's likely that at some point I will either quit my job and teach, or volunteer to chaperone many of my future children's events.

After my Music Camp endeavor, Zach picked me up and I was off to my much-anticipated, most nerve-wracking event of the week: Drumline Auditions.

I arrived at the venue right on time, and of course, what snare was open? Center. Talk about raising my anxiety! Luckily, the actual center snare, Cory Evans, slid into the center snare, where we continued to play exercises for about 2 hours. 

Nick Molenda then took me aside for my individual audition piece, which I did so-so on. Okay, I was very nervous, and definitely didn't play as well as I'd hoped, and I knew that my technique was not where it needed to be. Therefore, Nick told me that I wasn't likely to play snare that year-- Honestly, I expected that to happen, so I got to go over and practice with none other than the Cymbal line. :)

I think that I did very well with the cymbal timing piece, though I still had much to learn for technique.

So guess what now? All of the sections are set in stone except for.... Cymbals! Yay.

I get to return to have call back auditions during the group rehearsal, tomorrow the 7th. (I have to have 13 pieces memorized!) Pray I do my best for this opportunity!

Nonetheless, I have already made great friends in merely the audition process. :)

Moving on...

June 5th: Senior Awards Night

I was privileged to be announced on stage with my 5 other fellow Valedictorians; we have a unique class, with so much knowledge and talent!

Then came the Scholarships. 

I found out that night that my Daffodil Princess Scholarship was doubled from one to two thousand dollars, and I was also presented two other $500 scholarships.

Thank you Daffodil Scholarship Foundation, PTTE/PSE, and Orting Combined PTA!

I am so grateful to be going to UW with $4,500 for my Freshman year and $2,500 for my Sophomore year already. It's our unique community that helps people further their education. I can never thank them enough.

June 6th: Final Band Concert, EVER!

Right before playing Celebration Tribalesque

It was a weird feeling, realizing that I would never be with that group again, under the direction of Mr. Aaron Ruff, making melodies with our combined musical talent. 

We played Celebration Tribalesque, Spirit of the Highlands, On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss, and Norwegian Rhapsody. All of the tunes were executed with finesse and crisp quality; I am so proud of this group.

We then presented to Aaron a plaque in his honor, and told him about the baton that we had ordered with the engraving "Presented to Mr. Aaron Ruff by the OHS Class of 2012". The entire scene just touched me.

Zach and I after the concert.

Lastly, the OHS Jazz Fiasco and the Sweet Nothings played for a final time. I'm not going to lie, this was surreal to me. I have become accustomed to the snarkiness and sauciness of our group on a daily basis, and this was the last time we would ever lure the auditions to feeling a whole range of emotion within a matter of minutes. 

The two pieces I played on set with the group were Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai, and an adaptation of Dizzy Gillespie's Manteca. 

With Virtual Insanity, we added animatronics, which really got the crowd pumped. With Manteca, we really just hit the grove. Big props to Curtis Fielding for hitting his second sax solo so well that I just about missed my cue from melting so much with the sultriness of the tune.

I will never forget that night. 

*** Brief Interruption-- sorry this blog is so long. I kind of treat it like a journal, because knowing me, I won't remember half of these things unless they're written down, so I'm sorry if you don't like it. ***

June 7th: Last day of School

There is not much to say except that I could not believe that each class I attended that Thursday, was the last time I'd walk in as a student.

Collecting yearbook signatures, saying goodbye to friends and faculty, and cramming for Mr. Tarry's final all at once was quite overwhelming emotionally. (Thanks Tarry >:( Way to make the final non the last possible day ever)

I received a CICL and band award, which was pretty cool. But also, that assembly brought me to tears.

What can I say? I will miss seeing some of those faces every day. I cannot wait to come back and see how things have changed down the road.

I also cannot forget the wonderful Senior Prank that we pulled that night! We filled the entire foyer in front of the PAC with balloons and streamers. 

Senior Power!

My baby drummers :)
Tyler, Dakota, Me, Colten, and Ela.
I love those guys!

My favorite fellow jazz drummer, Austin!

Jacob and I on the last day.

The photography crew!
Jacob, Brandon, me, and Josie

June 8th: Senior Activity Day

Jessica Eyles and I. We go way back.
(6th Grade Camp-- STAR WARS!) :)

We went to Seattle down on the Waterfront, explored Pike Place Market, Fed some Homeless men, Went to Alkai Beach, and Bowled in West Seattle. I'm not going to lie, this was the most fun that I had ever had with my graduating class!

Gum wall <3

I could add more and more photos, but I think that I'll leave it at this, and then I can get more photo comments on Facebook. (; Just kidding!

After a weekend of graduation parties, croquet, and food... I am brought to the most anticipated time of this year.

June 11th: Graduation!

Receiving my diploma from Lovey!

Right before the ceremony

This was it. I was finally here. And all I could feel was a numb sort of shock. I could not believe that I was walking to my seat and being presented to the audience as the Orting High School Class of 2012. I got on stage, and presented my speech "Leaving the Nest", performed Wavin' Flag by K'naan (arr. Aaron Ruff) with the Band, and then receiving my diploma. DIPLOMA!?! Turning tassels, and tossing caps... This couldn't have happened already. Wow, I didn't even think that I could travel through an entire high school career so quickly and just stop at the end realizing that it's all over. 

Nana and Papa.
Two of the most inspirational people I know.

Ruff, thank you for being my teacher, my mentor,
my educator of the year, but most of all
thank you for being one of my best friends.

I know that it's a new beginning, but I get a bit emotional in knowing that I won't see all of my classmates at once ever again.

Here's to new beginnings! Here's to college!

As I prepare for UW, and get back to my summer, I leave you all with this song, my thoughts exactly:

Help! I'm growing up!

I just looked on my calendar and I realized something: I only have fifteen school days left! Holy cow!

From the Daffodil Parade, to the Spring Fair... From Prom to Tattooing... Jazz Festival and Band Contest (We got a II!)... There is much to talk about. But in order to keep this entry from being so longwinded, I will post many pictures. :)

Back on my last blog post, I spoke of Princess Alexandria Tyler Cole.

I miss her madly, and there is not a day that I don't think about her. In fact, I barely take my Alex locket bracelet off, ever... 

Look at how beautiful she is, and so silly! <3

Even when I'm having the most sad of days, I look at this bracelet and think about all of the days that she is missing out on, and how Alex kind of gets to live on through the Daffodil Princess spirit, you know?

My "Alex" Bracelet, chilling on my hi-hat during jazz band

So, I've brought "Alex" (the bracelet) around with me for all that I do, including: playing the drums in jazz band, going for walks on the river, and getting a tattoo. (That last one, I figured she would want to see what tattoos were like, as every 18 year old wonders.)

Ah yes, tattoos. I got one last week (May 10th)! :)

I really love it. 

Twin is a really good artist, with the snarky
kind of humor one needs to put up with in order to get a tattoo.

Two drumsticks crossed behind 3 daffodils. 

The finished product

Why 3? I have 3 siblings. 

Daffodils are not only my mark of "royalty" but they mean loyalty, re-birth, and new beginnings.

Alright, so onto bigger and better things...

I AM GRADUATING SOON! AHH!

My NHS graduation cords, things are getting so real!

Ash and I at a campout :)

The Gang, so to speak :)

I have some special thanks for the Orting Alumni Scholarship Association for the $5,000 scholarship! <3 I will take anything for college, this is going to be a crazy 6-8 years.

With this whole graduation shindig, I've been going through all of the magical preparations. And I am undergoing a LOT of stress. 

Graduation speech? Yes, I have it due this Friday. It IS finished, but I will never be happy with it. I just hope it gets a couple good laughs, eh? ... I'm sure that I won't freeze up... Psh, five thousand people? No big deal... I think.

Meh. Oh, I have UW Husky Drumline auditions soon, but here's the rub: I might have carpal tunnel. YAY! NOT. :(

Let's pray that I just need to condition something in my wrists, like some weird tight muscle....

In the meantime, people should come to Orting Fox Hollow on May 27th between 3:30 and 5:30 PM to see me play drums! :)

Daffodil Parade!

Princess McKenzie and I :)

Queen Sarah and I at the Marine Parade :)

I got to high five kids in the Orting Parade

Rest in Peace Princess Alex

On the Morning of April 11th, 2012, we of the 2012 Daffodil Festival Royal Court lost a sister to suicide.

From her smile, to her laughter, to her heart, she was beautiful inside and out.

I will see you again some day, sweet angel.

We love you Alexandria Tyler Cole.

With a servants heart, and her calming voice,

she became the best sister a girl could ever have.

Shy at first, she really blossomed into such a character with us girls. Her laughter just brightened the whole room.

Once a princess always a princess... We will always love you, and you will always have a seat on our float in life.

What really got me was how Alex was with the kids. 

I love you Alex. Thank you for giving smiles to the younger community.

If you or anyone you know is going through thoughts of depression or suicide, please, contact somebody, anybody.

Don't let this tragedy be in vain, and take the Princess Alex Promise in seeking an end to youth suicide.

Some good helplines:

1-800-273-TALK

and 

www.twloha.com

Rescue is Possible.

Governors, and Interviews, and Posters-- Oh my!

Hey there everyone!

It has been a while since I have blogged last, and I believe that I left off at the chocolate stroll... So I have a wee bit to cover, eh?

First off, February 15th: The Capitol

I wasn't feeling very well, to say the least, and had gone home early on Valentine's Day. (Though I had to work that night, fun deal...)

But in sickness and in health, we princesses must put our smiles on along with our tiaras... And that is what I had to do the very next day.

So, we lovely ladies all met up rather early at the Church of all Nations in order to catch a bus to Olympia. 

We retrieved a tour, and were introduced on the senate floor as an annual resolution in respect of the Daffodil Festival and how it is recognized as the longest parade in the nation.

('Twas very sweet to hear of what our district legislature had to say about Orting being the best part of the Daffodil parade... Just saying.)

We then received a tour of the governor's mansion, which is absolutely time-defying and beautiful, to say the least.

I loved the architectural layout, especially since it was so difficult to spot the addition that is not part of the original floor-plan! (Nerd moment :3)

Lastly, we toured the state building itself, and met Governor Gregoire herself!

Ello Gov'na!

Alright, onto other things...

So, I've been given some feedback on how I try and turn this into a more relatable blog post. Well, in response to that, I am going to write briefly about something y'all seniors in high school will relate to: CP Exit Interviews

Ah! What a scary thing that I had become oh-so-apprehensive about for the entirety of this year... The big bad interview that determines whether or not you may graduate... Good grief!

Then came the moment of truth: February 22nd was here.

Yay! My interview outfit. I'm such a grown up. (;

I was interviewed by a parent, Mrs. Hirschcorn, and Officer Drasher. Oddly enough, Drasher does oral boards for the police station, and he gave me the highest score of the group!

Needless to say, I was very nervous, but warmed up to them once I started to speak. I passed! :D

Official portrait!

Who's ready to graduate? This girl! (June 11th couldn't come any sooner...)

Back to less relatable things, sorry!...

Last week, our formal portraits were released onto Facebook, as well as our official group photo!

Upon this release was our first ever public appearance as the 2012 Daffodil Festival Royal Court: South Hill Mall Days!

The official 2010 Daffodil Festival Royal Court poster!

Boy, was it just insane... It's Wednesday night, and I can still hardly walk like a normal person. Sixteen hours in heels, kneeling up and down to speak with young children, as well as signing posters.

Oh. My. Gosh. 

Those posters!

I am seriously going to need wrist braces after signing all of those signatures... Crazy!

The kids were the best, though. I absolutely loved reading to them, and making crowns. 

They say the cutest of things and warm my heart with what they say. 

Reading on day one! "Shara Tiara and the Frog Prints"

After two long days, with Madden! What a stud!

Giving Teagan a princess swing!

Reading on day two. "Now Shara Tiara was no ordinary princess!"

'Twas a very long two days, but I wouldn't trade that feeling of fame and importance for anything.

Oh yeah!

Onto some of my last matters of business.

One: I was accepted into the CalPoly School of Architecture!

Sweet huh? I'll probably not go there, but it's still pretty darn rad.

And Two: Today we princesses went to the Girls and Boys Club in Tacoma, and hung out with some of the kids for a couple hours. Wow, it sure was fun! There was this one girl who wouldn't leave my side after I helped her with her homework; we did crafts together, and made this bear.

You can't see it too well, but she wanted it to have a dress like mine...

The time flew by! It's crazy. I really need to touch these kids' hearts: they need it the most.

Weeeeelllllp, that's enough for tonight.

Have a good night readers!

P.S. I cleaned my room! I am soooo stinking proud of myself! Hahaha.

From Hipster, to Lumberjack, to Princess...

Wow, what a weekend, I might say... And it isn't even over!

So I know that my past blogs have been long-winded, and I haven't received much feedback on that, so I'm going to assume that y'all may be looking for something of a "lighter read" per say... I'll attempt that tonight... and likely fail.

There isn't much to describe my weekend except the three above words in today's post title. Therefore, I am going to use them as a way to categorize, cool?.....

Friday Night: Hipster

Now, I'm not saying that I liked any bands before they were cool (which, of course, some of them I definitely DID...) nor will I say that I prefer tea over other drinks (which, I actually DO...)

But what I can say is that Friday night was definitely a Hipster Night.

Why?

Well, I was just laying around my house, literally wallowing in self pity and having a conversation with my dad about having no friends to hang out with.

(Seriously, I was doing dishes and my dad was all like: "Hey, I noticed you're home a lot, don't you have anyone to hang out with?" My response: "Dad, I have no friends.")

So, you see where that led to self-pity. Super sad. 

I know that I have friends, but I just don't know how to hang out with them outside of school, I guess...

As I wallowed in this self pity, I received a call from Zach: "Hey, we have an extra ticket to Star Wars 3D. Wanna go?"

Now, the key word in that sentence: we. Who's we? Zach, the ex/pic/bestfriend; Meagan, the coworker/hairstylist/friend; and Aaron, the band director/mentor/ex-coworker/friend. 

Needless to say,the night was freakin' hilarious!

From the moment we got into the vehicle, jokes were cracked and hipster-dissing, cliché quotes were said all the way into the theatre. But hipsters hips don't lie! The quotes continued as we received our 3D glasses: "Let the Hipster Vision commence."

So ensued hipster movie night.

The movie was great, giving me a deep sense of nostalgia, and realization of a lot of the "subtle" racism it held. But it was all taken lightly due to the limitless amounts of snarky hipster lines being said among us. 

One of my favorites was from Zach: "Anikan had the Justin Bieber haircut way before it was cool. #hipsterjedi" (It was later tweeted, hence the hashtag.)

I am so thankful to have friends, even if it is an odd combination to be hanging out with such a miscellaneous group that if they were any other people, probably wouldn't be so close... If that made any sense.

If I haven't lost you yet, I shall move on to today.

This Morning: Lumberjack

I woke up to my iPod alarm quacking at me... Yes, my actual alarm clock decided to break, so I am using my iPod. And yes, I actually chose for my wake up to be a duck calling. (Some say I'm rather peculiar...)

I moved rather slowly this morning, but was able to make it to Camp Arnold on time (with a stop at McDonald's along the way)... Don't ask me how I did it. Seriously, don't.

Upon arrival at the great camp, I met up with the boys. (There were no band girls there at the time, eh, more man's man work for me! Haha.) And we went straight to the trails to the YBU and OBU camp sites, where many trees had fallen along the paths, blocking access. Mitch, the wonderful lumberjack that he is, decided to repeatedly break his chainsaw-- so I became pretty handy with the handsaw. 'Twas quite enjoyable.

Getting some dirt under the nails-- literally! :D

I really enjoy doing hard manual labor, unlike busywork. I actually feel like I am accomplishing something when I have to support the guys lifting a log, or saw down that awkward limb that hung too far into the path. Man's job? I think not. I could be the perfect lumberjack.

Meanwhile, Ruff and I were discussing our plans for the band and the Zombie Apocalypse. Stick with us, and you'll never get eaten again!... Wait.

I had to leave camp clean up a little early, however, and I was quite sad to go, actually. It was nice being back there.

I took my time going home, so as to not distress my car anymore... And was left with just enough time to clean up and get all nice and pretty for the Chocolate Stroll in Orting.

Which brings me to my last time frame,

this afternoon: Princess.

The Chocolate Stroll was planned out by a small and somewhat impromptu committee, with the goal of getting locals more familiar with all of the businesses around Orting. (Many people don't actually know much past Safeway!) This year, there were 52 businesses who passed out chocolate items to each of the 250 ticket buyers who literally strolled around Orting. Each business got it's name out there, while the people got chocolate; win-win, I daresay!

But here's the best part: all proceeds go to the Orting Daffodil Community Float.

Now, you may not know much about me, so here is one need-to-know fact: I absolutely LOVE the community float. I have been working on it for about 5 or 6 years now, and it has become annual tradition to help with the design and construction of this amazing piece of machinery. My "bonus" mom, Krista, has been the coordinator the past few years, so it has become rather a family tradition.

Now, in recent years, likely due to the economy, there has been a lack of money for building the float, therefore fundraising has been needed. We've tried donation jars without yielding much result, but WOW! The chocolate stroll raised $2000+ for the float committee, which is amazing in itself.

This was where I figured to ask Steve James (our super important daffodil executive) for permission to have a chaperone and attend this event and get it out there that the Daffodil Festival really appreciates this kind of community support. Now, I know that the proceeds don't go directly to the Festival or its float. However, it provides for a float entry to be added to this beautiful festival; I am very thankful for my hometown to have done such good.

It was really neat, seeing the people everywhere! There people aged infant to senior! I loved it!

All of the businesses who participated were thrilled, and those who didn't definitely want to next year.

Here are some photos. Enjoi.

My wonderful Chaperone, Anitra!

Aunt Kari.

Nina, Krista, and Brook.

Brook and Krista.

She was just the cutest. 

And so was he! :)

I know that I ended this abruptly. But I do have work tomorrow.

Please comment below or on my Facebook to let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!

Hipster Lumberjack Princess,

 xoxo  Morgan  ~~~~

Oh! And I got my new drumhead in the mail.
I am in love....