Hey everyone!
Tomorrow (Dec 14th) is THE DAY to do your holiday shopping at Barnes & Noble! Tomorrow the Rock Valley College Music Ed. Club will be having an all day fund-raiser at Barnes and Noble, in which 10-20% of all Barnes & Noble sales (on December 14th) will go to the Music Ed. Club. These funds will be put toward music trips for Rock Valley College's music students!
One of these trips is to Peoria for a statewide music education conference, at which the RVC Chamber Singers will be featured in concert! Another trip takes place in May when the RVC Chamber Singers go on tour! YAY! :) At this point, the more money we get, the more we sing! :)
So, make sure to be at the new Barnes and Noble in Cherry Vale Mall on December 14th!
Your support will be greatly appreciated! :) We hope to see you there!
SCHOOL IS OUT!
Hurray! School is out for Christmas Break! The last of my finals was yesterday afternoon, so I am done! YAY!
Yesterday I brought the chocolate fountain to school for the music students who were finishing the semester with their performance juries. According to popular demand, I am supposed to bring it for Midterms also next year LOL! I don't know about that, but at least it made for a sweet end of the semester! :)
Yeah Ben, that one was for you. Haha...
Oh, I'm one day into break and the only thing I miss is driving my truck. Yes, I miss that a lot! :D
Yesterday I brought the chocolate fountain to school for the music students who were finishing the semester with their performance juries. According to popular demand, I am supposed to bring it for Midterms also next year LOL! I don't know about that, but at least it made for a sweet end of the semester! :)
Yeah Ben, that one was for you. Haha...
Oh, I'm one day into break and the only thing I miss is driving my truck. Yes, I miss that a lot! :D
I'm Saving Money!
Indeed ladies and gentlemen! I have broken even on my Vegetable Oil conversion! After just over three months of running on Vegetable Oil, I have saved enough money to pay off the initial cost of my conversion! YAY!
:D
From here on out, nearly all my travel expenses are covered! Keep an eye on the figure at the bottom of the right hand column of my blog, to follow my savings on Diesel for my truck! :)
:D
From here on out, nearly all my travel expenses are covered! Keep an eye on the figure at the bottom of the right hand column of my blog, to follow my savings on Diesel for my truck! :)
Concert Friday November 30th in Rockford!
Hey Everyone! This Friday in Rockford is a Benefit Concert (for Habitat For Humanity) that the Rock Valley College Choirs will be putting on! There is no charge for admission, but a 'Freewill Offering' will be open to benefit Habitat For Humanity. I will be singing in both the Concert Choir and the RVC Chamber Singers Ensemble (obviously not at the same time hehehe!).
The concert starts at 7pm... For more details give me a shout! I hope to see you there!
The concert starts at 7pm... For more details give me a shout! I hope to see you there!
Concert Tomorrow Night in Rockford!
Hey everyone! Tomorrow night (Friday November 16th) is the 'big' concert of the season for the choirs at Rock Valley College!
It will be held in Rockford at Court St. United Methodist Church, at 7:30pm. Admission is $6 for Adults, $5 for Students and Seniors.
Hope to see you there!
Let me know if you have any questions!
It will be held in Rockford at Court St. United Methodist Church, at 7:30pm. Admission is $6 for Adults, $5 for Students and Seniors.
Hope to see you there!
Let me know if you have any questions!
I can throw a ball again! :)
Well after having a dislocated shoulder for two months, it felt great to finally throw a ball again yesterday!
About a week ago we scheduled a chiropractor appointment, at which Dr. John popped my shoulder back into place. I can finally do normal activities like carrying heavy stuff and throwing a football! :) YAY! It's amazing how much we take healthy joints for granted!
Oh, if anyone is wondering what's been keeping me busy lately, I'll tell you... School. Sorry, not much else to say. Hehe!
About a week ago we scheduled a chiropractor appointment, at which Dr. John popped my shoulder back into place. I can finally do normal activities like carrying heavy stuff and throwing a football! :) YAY! It's amazing how much we take healthy joints for granted!
Oh, if anyone is wondering what's been keeping me busy lately, I'll tell you... School. Sorry, not much else to say. Hehe!
Living Life Economically
Two weeks ago in my Economics class we talked about the Law of Diminishing Returns. This law basically states that for each extra unit of product that you consume, you gain less and less benefit each time. Eventually, the additional cost of consuming that last additional product is higher than your additional benefit, at which point you refrain from consuming the product.
With that in mind... I am very much the type of person that likes to be around people, but today I spent the whole day home alone, and didn't see a single soul until about 6pm. All day I only saw a total of seven people (four of which were my family members). AND I LOVED IT! So what made me suddenly enjoy being alone instead of being with people? Well, if the Law of Diminishing Returns is true, then I guess I've consumed to many people?
I don't know, just food for thought I guess.
With that in mind... I am very much the type of person that likes to be around people, but today I spent the whole day home alone, and didn't see a single soul until about 6pm. All day I only saw a total of seven people (four of which were my family members). AND I LOVED IT! So what made me suddenly enjoy being alone instead of being with people? Well, if the Law of Diminishing Returns is true, then I guess I've consumed to many people?
I don't know, just food for thought I guess.
Fun Off-Road
Last Friday I took my truck Off-Road for the first time! I was driving home down rte. 173 when I saw some farmers in the field harvesting corn. I recognized the opportunity I'd been waiting for, so I pulled off the road into the field to ask the farmer if I could drive around a bit. ;) He said "Sure no problem, just don't tare things up too badly!" :)
So for the first time I took her off road. YAY! I'd like to do it again sometime, where there's more mud and a need for skilled driving (or at-least 4x4). :)
Oh and I'm finally learning how to sew! Here's a picture of me sewing filters for my Waste Vegetable Oil. :)
So for the first time I took her off road. YAY! I'd like to do it again sometime, where there's more mud and a need for skilled driving (or at-least 4x4). :)
Oh and I'm finally learning how to sew! Here's a picture of me sewing filters for my Waste Vegetable Oil. :)
Alas, it's 4:50, I am still at school, and I should have left the area around 3:00pm!
Why am I still here? Well for one my piano lesson went 20 minutes over. And the more primary reason, my truck just blew a $1.99 injector return line fuel cap! This was a temporary cap (designed for vacuum lines) that was installed by my mechanic. It was supposed to be replaced with a new one long ago, but I haven't taken the time to do it, so... Now I am required to take the time sitting around doing nothing extremely productive, and in general, inconveniencing numerous people.
Anyway, stay tuned, and maybe I'll take the time to put up a new blog post soon. Before I start inconveniencing even more people.
:)
Why am I still here? Well for one my piano lesson went 20 minutes over. And the more primary reason, my truck just blew a $1.99 injector return line fuel cap! This was a temporary cap (designed for vacuum lines) that was installed by my mechanic. It was supposed to be replaced with a new one long ago, but I haven't taken the time to do it, so... Now I am required to take the time sitting around doing nothing extremely productive, and in general, inconveniencing numerous people.
Anyway, stay tuned, and maybe I'll take the time to put up a new blog post soon. Before I start inconveniencing even more people.
:)
Concert Dates!
Hey everybody! Well the fall concert season has come! :) Here are the dates for the Rock Valley College concerts that I'll be singing in with Chamber Singers and Concert Choir.
As a quick update... Everything with school is going good! I'm very busy, but learning a lot. Well that pretty much covers everything. LOL! I have been working on Saturdays laying flooring, but other than that I'm pretty much consumed with school right now. More updates to come as events happen! Stay tuned!
- October 6th: 7pm Chamber Singers, Women's Choir and the Northern Illinois Masterworks Chorus. (Freewill Offering)
- November 6th: 7pm Chamber Singers, Women's Choir and (I think) the Western Illinois University Chamber Singers. (Freewill Offering)
- November 16th: 7:30pm Chamber Singers, Concert Choir and Women's Choir. ("Three Choirs Concert" - $6 for Adults, $5 for Students and Seniors)
- November 30th: 7pm Chamber Singers and Women's Choir. (Freewill Offering to benefit the Homeless)
- December 2nd: 2pm Chamber Singers, Women's Choir and Concert Choir. ("Sibelius Concert" - $10)
- January 18th: 7:30pm Chamber Singers and Women's Choir. ("The B's Concert" - $unknown)
As a quick update... Everything with school is going good! I'm very busy, but learning a lot. Well that pretty much covers everything. LOL! I have been working on Saturdays laying flooring, but other than that I'm pretty much consumed with school right now. More updates to come as events happen! Stay tuned!
Update 9-14-07
Well, school is back in full swing, and I'm as busy as ever! Let's see... There's a few things I need to update ya'll on. First thing since my last post was a Dance at the Hill's house! Since you know about my blog, you've probably seen pictures of it on our family's blog, but here's some pictures you may not have seen.
Joanna and I trying the gallop. Kinda a comical picture :)
Luke and myself in our tuxes.
A candid shot of my friend Luke. Looks like a model huh? :)
Ok, I have no clue what I'm saying or demonstrating, but Daniel doesn't look very impressed. LOL!
Sitting around talking after the dance. Thanks Hills! That was a night enjoyed by all!
Next comes school! This semester I am taking 19 credit hours, so I'm VERY busy! I'm taking mostly music classes, but in addition to those I also have a Speech Class, and an Intro to Economics class. Everything is going quite well! I don't have many pictures, but here's two that you might like.
Here's a picture of the Rock Valley College Chamber Singers. This is a big year for the Chamber Singers... Our group sound, and the musical skill of everyone, makes for a Great group! Next spring we are being featured at a Music Ed conference in central IL, and it looks like we'll even be going on tour! This is the first time in seven years that a Choral group from a two year college has been featured at this conference, so I'm really looking forward to it! This picture is from when we sang at the 9/11 remembrance service at RVC.
The Music Theory 3 class with Mr. Beert is going excellent! The class is great, lots of fun, and the students are all very serious about their work. Here's a picture of some fun that we had before class a week ago.
It was Allegra's birthday (one of the girls in class), so when I found this out (before class started) I went up and wrote "Happy Birthday" on the board. We had a lot of fun with that (as we always do in class :). The orange writing on the board is mine, the brown is Mr. Laprade's help with dynamics and tempo, and the blue slur up to an "A" at the end was done by Mr. Beert.
Thanks Mr. Laprade and Mr. Beert for all the hard work you put into us students!
Indeed My Truck Is Eating Chinese! :-)
On my last update I had just finished the conversion on my truck. Here are some pictures from my truck's maiden voyage running on Vegetable Oil from a local Chinese Restaurant!
These pictures are from last Saturday just after my previous update.
Gassing up, and getting ready!
More of Joanna's artistic touch as we drive out the driveway :)
Just having a blast vegging! :) LOL!
Snif, Snif... Is someone grilling, or is that my truck? Oh and I might ad... my truck smells DELICIOUS! :) To be honest it smells like someone has BBQ Chicken on the grill. :)
More of Joanna's cool artwork as we drive home :)
Oh BTW: Be sure to watch the bottom of the side bar (to your right) to stay updated on how much money running on WVO can save someone!
These pictures are from last Saturday just after my previous update.
Gassing up, and getting ready!
More of Joanna's artistic touch as we drive out the driveway :)
Just having a blast vegging! :) LOL!
Snif, Snif... Is someone grilling, or is that my truck? Oh and I might ad... my truck smells DELICIOUS! :) To be honest it smells like someone has BBQ Chicken on the grill. :)
Snif, Snif... Is that us? NO! That's the farm down the road! Joseph apparently doesn't like the smell :) LOL!
More of Joanna's cool artwork as we drive home :)Oh BTW: Be sure to watch the bottom of the side bar (to your right) to stay updated on how much money running on WVO can save someone!
WVO Update!
Last night I FINISHED My W.V.O. conversion! :) Ok "Finished" is never finished, but the current system is up and running! :) Here's some pictures from yesterday's final push to get it done.
Me under the hood again!
Just a little tip, disconnecting and re-connecting short rubber hoses behind an engine is difficult, and VERY UNCOMFORTABLE! Not recommended unless necessary. :)
An artistic photo by Joanna from inside the cab.
I LOVE MY BEAUTIFUL TRUCK! :)
WOW! That looks posed! But sorry, it's not, I'm actually working :)
Here's my little work area, fully equipped with a nice fan to shoo all the mosquitoes away! The mosquitoes were by far the biggest delay in this job. I couldn't work during the night because of all the bugs! But a fan did the trick, and I've been able to put in two late nights this week and get it DONE! :)
Another artistic photo by Joanna through the wonderful fan that kept all the Mosquito's away :)
The conversion is done! Here's a shot of me bleeding the fuel lines to remove the bubbles.
Me under the hood again!
Just a little tip, disconnecting and re-connecting short rubber hoses behind an engine is difficult, and VERY UNCOMFORTABLE! Not recommended unless necessary. :)
An artistic photo by Joanna from inside the cab.
I LOVE MY BEAUTIFUL TRUCK! :)
WOW! That looks posed! But sorry, it's not, I'm actually working :)
Here's my little work area, fully equipped with a nice fan to shoo all the mosquitoes away! The mosquitoes were by far the biggest delay in this job. I couldn't work during the night because of all the bugs! But a fan did the trick, and I've been able to put in two late nights this week and get it DONE! :)
Another artistic photo by Joanna through the wonderful fan that kept all the Mosquito's away :)
The conversion is done! Here's a shot of me bleeding the fuel lines to remove the bubbles.
Almost There: WVO Conversion
For those of you who haven't heard, I'm working on converting my truck to run on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)!
I'm almost done, and I should be able to watch this thing eat Chinese within the week! :)
Stay tuned for a more detailed update once it's done.
The AUX tank install almost complete!
I'm almost done, and I should be able to watch this thing eat Chinese within the week! :)
Stay tuned for a more detailed update once it's done.
The AUX tank install almost complete!
My Summer Math Course is DONE! :)
Last Wednesday was the Final Exam for a math course (Gen Ed Math) that I was taking at Rock Valley College in the Summer Interim III! It was a three week course that covered a full semester of work! The math teacher said it was not a condensed class at all! Anyway, it was by far the hardest class I've taken at RVC so far. We covered a little of statistics, geometry, trigonometry, algebra, logic, and more! Anyway, I spent all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday studying for the final exam, :/ but I think the exam went very well! PRAISE THE LORD!
On the way home from the Final Exam, I decided to stop at Wendy's for a Crispy Chicken Sandwich and a Jr. Cheese-Burger.
After I got my order at the drive through, I started driving away and thought to myself: Wait! I smell French fries! I opened my bag and in it was a medium french fries! YAY!... ...But wait!... Where is my Crispy Chicken Sandwich? Nope, not there, they left it out! So I went back and the lady at the drive-up told me to go to the second window and they'd fix my order. So I pulled up, they handed me another bag, and said, "I put your Chicken in there". I said "thanks!" looked in the bag, and what should I see but Chicken Nuggets! Not a Crispy Chicken Sandwich like I had ordered! I looked up and said "Oh, I didn't order Chicken Nuggets either! :)" She said "I know baby, I made those just for you!" I said "well thanks, but I DID order a Crispy Chicken Sandwich, can I?..." She said "that's in there also, under the nuggets, I made those just for you, sorry baby, didn't mean to mess up your order." I said "oh wow! Thank you so much!" And drove away quite happy with my $2 meal of Chicken Nuggets, Medium Fries, Jr. Cheese-Burger, and a Crispy Chicken Sandwich. :) But the story doesn't end there! By the time I got around to eating my Jr. Cheese-Burger, I opened it and realized that this was not a Jr! I got a full size burger! YAY! Now I was really happy! :)
I hope Wendy's messes up my order next time, and oh, I might ad... That's not the first time that that Wendy's has messed up my order. :) I guess you could call me a faithful patron from now on? I don't know, I really prefer Burger King... ...hmm... ...But that's another topic for another day. :)
After I got my order at the drive through, I started driving away and thought to myself: Wait! I smell French fries! I opened my bag and in it was a medium french fries! YAY!... ...But wait!... Where is my Crispy Chicken Sandwich? Nope, not there, they left it out! So I went back and the lady at the drive-up told me to go to the second window and they'd fix my order. So I pulled up, they handed me another bag, and said, "I put your Chicken in there". I said "thanks!" looked in the bag, and what should I see but Chicken Nuggets! Not a Crispy Chicken Sandwich like I had ordered! I looked up and said "Oh, I didn't order Chicken Nuggets either! :)" She said "I know baby, I made those just for you!" I said "well thanks, but I DID order a Crispy Chicken Sandwich, can I?..." She said "that's in there also, under the nuggets, I made those just for you, sorry baby, didn't mean to mess up your order." I said "oh wow! Thank you so much!" And drove away quite happy with my $2 meal of Chicken Nuggets, Medium Fries, Jr. Cheese-Burger, and a Crispy Chicken Sandwich. :) But the story doesn't end there! By the time I got around to eating my Jr. Cheese-Burger, I opened it and realized that this was not a Jr! I got a full size burger! YAY! Now I was really happy! :)
I hope Wendy's messes up my order next time, and oh, I might ad... That's not the first time that that Wendy's has messed up my order. :) I guess you could call me a faithful patron from now on? I don't know, I really prefer Burger King... ...hmm... ...But that's another topic for another day. :)
Paintball Party Pictures
Hey everyone! Here are some pictures from the paintball party last saturday! It was so much fun! There were thirteen of us total, six on our team (the red team) and seven on the opposition (green). The green team totally dominated the field all day, except for one of the Revolutionary games, and the big fire fight at the end.
The big fire fight at the end of the day was my favorite. It was a full half hour of intence action. And, I might ad that we REALLY CREAMED THE OPPOSITION ON THAT ROUND! :). I shot a total of approx 1500 rounds all day, and 600 of those rounds were in that last fire fight! I must say that I am SO GLAD that the end of that round came when it did though, cause I only had 10 shots worth of co2 left! :) That's way too close for comfort! But the teamwork that we were able to excersize durring that last round made it everything!
THANK'S STRANDS FOR A WOUNDERFUL DAY! :)
The big fire fight at the end of the day was my favorite. It was a full half hour of intence action. And, I might ad that we REALLY CREAMED THE OPPOSITION ON THAT ROUND! :). I shot a total of approx 1500 rounds all day, and 600 of those rounds were in that last fire fight! I must say that I am SO GLAD that the end of that round came when it did though, cause I only had 10 shots worth of co2 left! :) That's way too close for comfort! But the teamwork that we were able to excersize durring that last round made it everything!
THANK'S STRANDS FOR A WOUNDERFUL DAY! :)
Daniel Hill re-hydrating for a big day of paintball ahead.
Grant Iler re-thinking this whole idea of getting shot at :) LOL!
Stuart strand preparing his last words.
Joseph Erber locked, cocked, and ready to rock.
The green team preparing for battle near their main fort. Oh yeah, last thursday we tore down a fence from some lady's yard in Algonquin, so I brought those fence segments up to the Strands to use as barricades. That's what the fort was made out of, and we had a lot of them scattered around the woods.
Ethan Webb getting ready for another round.
The green team preparing for battle.
All the lady observers watching the Revolutionary area battle :)
The Red team preparing for the revolutionary style battle.
The red team in the favored position preparing to fire!
The troops starved, waiting to eat.
Here are a few other blogs with posts from the day: Joseph Erber, Grant Strand, Ethan Webb
Paintball Day Post Coming Soon!
Last Saturday was a big paint-ball day at the Strands house! There's a bigger update to come, so stay tuned! :)
Methinks Joanna got her hands on my gun and exercised some of her artistic talent? :)
Methinks Joanna got her hands on my gun and exercised some of her artistic talent? :)
My New Paintball Gun
In preparation for the Paintball Day that Grant Strand is hosting, I recently bought a Tippmann A-5. I got it in the mail on Wednesday, and today I finally had a chance to look at it, and take it out to do a little shooting.
I let her shoot some, and boy is she trigger happy! :)
Here's a picture of Caroline with it.
I let her shoot some, and boy is she trigger happy! :)4th of July Party / New Glasses!
On July 4th the Yen family hosted our entire church + some other friends for a big Independence Day Celebration! We had a BLAST!
The festivities started around 1:30 when a bunch of people met at the Golf Course for a round of Golf. It was my first time, and it was so much fun! Fortunately we played best-ball, so while our team had the lowest score of all the teams it still wasn't terrible, esp. considering that three of the four people on our team had never played Golf before! Our team was made up of Mr. VonHolten, Luke VonHolten, Joseph and I. Needless to say, Mr. VonHolten held our team up :).
After Golf all the Golfers headed back to the Yen's house to join everyone else for a wonderful evening of food and games (football, egg toss, three legged races, and other different types of group games). Toward the end of the night it became apparent that the eggs used for the Egg Toss were VERY durable! So some of the people started throwing the eggs as high in the air as they could to see if they'd break when they hit the ground. Most of the eggs didn't break, but it did grow into more of an egg fight fight than anything. REALLY MESSY! :)
Thanks so much Yen's for the wonderful party!
Sorry, no Golf pictures :(
Josiah and I... We won the Egg Toss! Oh yeah, and there is a picture of me with the Glasses which I've had for about two months now!
Joanna and I... We won the Three Legged Race!
The festivities started around 1:30 when a bunch of people met at the Golf Course for a round of Golf. It was my first time, and it was so much fun! Fortunately we played best-ball, so while our team had the lowest score of all the teams it still wasn't terrible, esp. considering that three of the four people on our team had never played Golf before! Our team was made up of Mr. VonHolten, Luke VonHolten, Joseph and I. Needless to say, Mr. VonHolten held our team up :).
After Golf all the Golfers headed back to the Yen's house to join everyone else for a wonderful evening of food and games (football, egg toss, three legged races, and other different types of group games). Toward the end of the night it became apparent that the eggs used for the Egg Toss were VERY durable! So some of the people started throwing the eggs as high in the air as they could to see if they'd break when they hit the ground. Most of the eggs didn't break, but it did grow into more of an egg fight fight than anything. REALLY MESSY! :)
Thanks so much Yen's for the wonderful party!
Sorry, no Golf pictures :(
Josiah and I... We won the Egg Toss! Oh yeah, and there is a picture of me with the Glasses which I've had for about two months now!
Joanna and I... We won the Three Legged Race!
RVC Chamber Singers in Concert!
Hey Everyone! Here's a piece that we (The Rock Valley College Chamber Singers) performed at the end of the Spring '07 semester.
The microphones were at the front of the stage, so they definitely picked up the strings more than the vocalists. But I hope you enjoy it!
Movements 1-4
Movement 5
Movements 6 & 7
The microphones were at the front of the stage, so they definitely picked up the strings more than the vocalists. But I hope you enjoy it!
Movements 1-4
Movement 5
Movements 6 & 7
Jamestown 400 Trip - Vlog 01
Hey Everybody!
Yesterday I tried making this vlog post on our drive out to Virginia. Sorry, it is really rough, which is due to the fact that my computer can't handle video rendering very well. :-( Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Yesterday I tried making this vlog post on our drive out to Virginia. Sorry, it is really rough, which is due to the fact that my computer can't handle video rendering very well. :-( Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
The Elantra Sold!
I don't know how many of you have heard about the Hyundai Elantra that I had for quite some time. But after four months in the shop (with many parts being replaced or rebuilt) it has finally gotten out, and last Saturday it SOLD! Praise the Lord!
Also, since it was finally out of the shop, I got a chance to get some pictures of it. Here are a couple of them.
Also, since it was finally out of the shop, I got a chance to get some pictures of it. Here are a couple of them.
My new truck
A couple weeks ago I got a new truck! I've been looking for a Diesel to possibly convert to run on Vegetable Oil, but haven't found one that had what I wanted within my price range. Basically I was looking for three things:
Basically what I wanted, and the price it had to be didn't match, so I was having a hard time finding anything half decent until...
This truck came along.
- I wanted a GM pickup, (or Suburban or Blazer).
- It had to be a 1993 model or older (in 1994 they started using electronic fuel injection which is no good for vegetable oil).
- I also wanted it to be 4x4.
- I also wanted it to be a 1993 (since that was the only year that they made a 6.5L Turbo Diesel engine with mechanical fuel injection)
- It had to be under $1500
Basically what I wanted, and the price it had to be didn't match, so I was having a hard time finding anything half decent until...
This truck came along.
This is a 1993 (YAY!) Chevy (YAY!) Pickup (YAY!), with 4x4 (YAY!) and the 6.5L Turbo Diesel (YAY!). Best of all they were only asking $1200 (YAY again!).
The problem was that the ad said the engine was seized-up (Grr, not so good!). I decided to call the guy anyway and ask what the symptoms of the problem were. He proceeded to explain the problem, and I got to thinking it was more of a starter problem than an engine problem. I went to look at it and it wasn't even a starter problem! The only problem was that one of the starter bolts had broken, and the other had bent! So with $10 I headed over to Napa Auto Parts and picked up two new starter bolts.
Now have have a great running truck that I couldn't have found anywhere else for less than $3500 at the least! I am so excited. It has a new:
The problem was that the ad said the engine was seized-up (Grr, not so good!). I decided to call the guy anyway and ask what the symptoms of the problem were. He proceeded to explain the problem, and I got to thinking it was more of a starter problem than an engine problem. I went to look at it and it wasn't even a starter problem! The only problem was that one of the starter bolts had broken, and the other had bent! So with $10 I headed over to Napa Auto Parts and picked up two new starter bolts.
Now have have a great running truck that I couldn't have found anywhere else for less than $3500 at the least! I am so excited. It has a new:
- Transmission
- Torque Converter
- Alternator
- Gas Tank
- Radiator
- Tires
- Exhaust system
- and now it even has two new starter bolts :-).
Concerts Friday and Saturday, April 20 & 21
Hey everybody! The Rock Valley College Concert Choir, Womens Choir and Chamber Singers are going to be putting on a joint concert Friday and Saturday, April 20 & 21 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rockford!
I am in the Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers, but I'm obviously NOT in the Womens Choir.
There are also two pieces that I'll be playing the piano to accompany the Concert Choir on. So if you've got either of the nights open, I'd love to see you there!
Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students. The concert begins at 7:30pm.
If you've got any questions feel free to send me an email, or post a comment.
I am in the Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers, but I'm obviously NOT in the Womens Choir.
There are also two pieces that I'll be playing the piano to accompany the Concert Choir on. So if you've got either of the nights open, I'd love to see you there!
Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students. The concert begins at 7:30pm.
If you've got any questions feel free to send me an email, or post a comment.
Update! 4-15-07
Oh my word! I can't believe it's the middle of April already! Here's a little update of what's been up over the past couple weeks.
___________________________
I've been very busy with school, esp. with all the piano and voice practice that I've been doing. Much of my practice time lately (basically all of it) has been towards a couple pieces that I'm accompanying the RVC Concert Choir on! They're both really neat. One is the 7th movement of the Beethoven Choral Fantasy (wow! that one is just plain fast!!), and the other one is a gospel piece "John the Revelator". This one is a lot of fun, and VERY different in style from anything I've played in the past.
___________________________
A couple weeks ago we housed a few boys from Bradley University after a concert that their Chorale and Chamber Singers gave. They were a great bunch of guys, and I really enjoyed their visit and the concert (which by the way was incredible!).
Here's a picture of me with the boys we housed, right before they left the next morning.
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Would you believe it! We got a snow storm this week! How crazy is that! This is April right?
___________________________
My Elantra remains locked up at the mechanic waiting for yet another replacement part to the electrical system. This should be in tomorrow, and it should be the last part.
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Yesterday the RVC Chamber singers (of whom I am a part), were guests at a concert by the RVC Consortium. This was so much fun! The RVC Consortium string ensemble (with whom we had the honor of doing a joint piece) were good beyond what my own uneducated pen can express. They were really seriously good, but I'm not even going to try to continue telling you how good they were. We sang Bach's Cantata #150 (with the Consortium), and then two pieces on our own: "Adijo Kerida", and "Done Made My Vow".
Afterwards, we went out for pizza which was fun, and, oh... It was one of the girl's birthday, so we sang "Happy Birthday". You can imagine me thinking, wow! I'm about to sing "Happy Birthday" with the Chamber Singers! This will probably be one of the best performances of this song I have ever heard! No! I was totally WRONG! I don't know if "Happy Birthday" is too far below the Chamber Singers for them to even consider stooping to that level, or what! But apparently it wasn't worth singing to them, so it was sung (or yelled) much louder and more monotone (right in the middle of the restaurant mind you) than I have ever heard this song sung! Boy, I REALLY wish that was recorded.
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There should be more regular updates to come, but no promises until the middle of May.
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I've been very busy with school, esp. with all the piano and voice practice that I've been doing. Much of my practice time lately (basically all of it) has been towards a couple pieces that I'm accompanying the RVC Concert Choir on! They're both really neat. One is the 7th movement of the Beethoven Choral Fantasy (wow! that one is just plain fast!!), and the other one is a gospel piece "John the Revelator". This one is a lot of fun, and VERY different in style from anything I've played in the past.
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A couple weeks ago we housed a few boys from Bradley University after a concert that their Chorale and Chamber Singers gave. They were a great bunch of guys, and I really enjoyed their visit and the concert (which by the way was incredible!).
Here's a picture of me with the boys we housed, right before they left the next morning.
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Would you believe it! We got a snow storm this week! How crazy is that! This is April right?
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My Elantra remains locked up at the mechanic waiting for yet another replacement part to the electrical system. This should be in tomorrow, and it should be the last part.
___________________________
Yesterday the RVC Chamber singers (of whom I am a part), were guests at a concert by the RVC Consortium. This was so much fun! The RVC Consortium string ensemble (with whom we had the honor of doing a joint piece) were good beyond what my own uneducated pen can express. They were really seriously good, but I'm not even going to try to continue telling you how good they were. We sang Bach's Cantata #150 (with the Consortium), and then two pieces on our own: "Adijo Kerida", and "Done Made My Vow".
Afterwards, we went out for pizza which was fun, and, oh... It was one of the girl's birthday, so we sang "Happy Birthday". You can imagine me thinking, wow! I'm about to sing "Happy Birthday" with the Chamber Singers! This will probably be one of the best performances of this song I have ever heard! No! I was totally WRONG! I don't know if "Happy Birthday" is too far below the Chamber Singers for them to even consider stooping to that level, or what! But apparently it wasn't worth singing to them, so it was sung (or yelled) much louder and more monotone (right in the middle of the restaurant mind you) than I have ever heard this song sung! Boy, I REALLY wish that was recorded.
___________________________
There should be more regular updates to come, but no promises until the middle of May.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand.
This is one hymn that I have found myself singing a lot lately. It is always a refreshment and inspiration to me.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
Refrain
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain
~ Edward Mote
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
Refrain
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
Refrain
~ Edward Mote
Random Photo of the Random Moment: Sweet Ride?
Random Photo of the Random Moment: Hmm... Sweet Ride?We saw this truck when we were in Maine a few years back. Not sure who the artist was, but a major commendation on the job!
Call Of Duty
Last Saturday we had some friends over to play Call Of Duty for my Birthday. It took us a while to get everything installed, but thanks to Daniel Hill and Grant Iler (who set up the LAN) all the computers connected very smoothly.
Many thanks to everyone that contributed to the evening! I had a blast (literally :-), and I hope everyone else that came did also. Here are some pictures from the evening.
Many thanks to everyone that contributed to the evening! I had a blast (literally :-), and I hope everyone else that came did also. Here are some pictures from the evening.
Team 1 from left to right: Myself, Luke VonHolten, Nathan DeLadurantey, Ethan Webb, and Sebastian Fowlks (plus Tom DeLadurantey who you can't see hidden in the back on the other side of Ethan)
Team 2 from left to right: Grant Strand, Josiah Erber, Grant Iler, Joshua Erber, Daniel Hill, and Joseph Erber.
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