tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1585173613576949642024-03-04T23:14:44.269-08:00Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming...Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-38942477159616850042013-07-27T20:42:00.002-07:002013-07-30T09:42:09.443-07:00BlessedI named this blog "Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming" for a very good reason. This trip was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that I still can't believe I actually experienced. I look forward to sharing more pictures with close friends and family that I wasn't able to post, and sharing more stories that I'm sure I failed to record. For those of you that have read any or all of my blog posts, I hope that you won't judge me for all the grammatical and spelling errors that I'm sure my proof-reading didn't catch. :)<br />
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Thank you for all the prayers, words of encouragements, and following me during my month adventure. I definitely felt your prayers, and your blog comments and Facebook comments meant so much to me in the moment and still make me smile as I look back on them. This past month was surely a time I'll never forget that was filled with too many blessings to count.<br />
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<br />Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-59426675772915084202013-07-27T20:41:00.001-07:002013-07-28T06:41:20.158-07:00The last day...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We took a train back to London <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">on Friday morning</a> for our final day. Unfortunately a late taxi to the subway station and waiting on subway connections didn't work in our favor because we missed our train ride. Luckily there was one leaving an hour later for London, which gave us time to eat breakfast in the train station before boarding. Making lemonade out of lemons... :) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When we arrived in London we went straight to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. I had no idea how big of an attraction this was because the palace area sidewalks outside the gate and beyond were absolutely packed. Flashbacks of <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Monday night</a> came to our mind as we were once again vie-ing for a place in the crowd to see the ceremony. There were two marching bands that marched inside the palace gate during the ceremony, and a portion of the ceremony where one of the bands played a list of well known pieces of music, such as "No Business Like Show Business", "Don't Mean A Thing", and "Heaven" to name a few. This part of the ceremony was a traditional concert in which the band read music from music stands. When the ceremony was over we stayed around and watched the guards pick up the music stands that the band used during the ceremony. As you might expect they didn't break their form at all, but picked up and actually marched the stands back into the palace. When the guards were almost finished with the "music stand task", we noticed that a motorcycle crew of police officers rode into the palace gate. Obviously this perked our interest so we stayed to watch, and then witnessed this crew lead a vehicle with heavy tinted glass out of the palace area. We watched the flag on the palace change, which signifies that the Queen is not present at the palace anymore. I should be honest that we weren't real close to the vehicle, but I can say we saw the vehicle that the queen was in! :) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Afterwards we took a tour of the Mews, which included seeing all of the royal carriages and some of the horses responsible for pulling the carriages. We also saw another vehicle used by the Queen, too. This vehicle is obviously one used for more professional engagements. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Later that afternoon we toured Westminster Abbey. Am I alone that I didn't realize that famous poets and authors, such as, Charles Dickins, Jeffrey Chaucer, Charles Darwin, Rudyard Kipling along with the composer Joseph Haydn were buried there! There was also quite a number of memorials made to various others including Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, and our own F.D. Roosevelt as well. There are several more that I could have listed, but those were the only ones that I remember at the moment. With the royal wedding not that long ago, I couldn't help but have flashbacks to Kate walking that same big isle down the middle of the Abbey. Really neat! Since we were touring the Abbey around closing, we actually got to hear the Westminster boys choir practice. BEAUTIFUL!! Now how do I get my boys at school to sound like that?! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Our last night was spent getting fixed up and going out for our last dinner in London. We didn't realize until after we finished eating that our last dinner really brought everything full circle for us. We ended up eating fish and chips (not the original plan that evening, but nonetheless true British food) at a pub/restaurant called "Alberts". </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">(If you're puzzled read the post called "Fourth Times the Charm"). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*With all the royal palaces and artifacts that we saw throughout the week, we decided back in May that we should enjoy a real classy place for our last night. Our hotel room included two bathrooms, both with ceramic tiling, and a separate bedroom area. The hotel provided bathrobes and slippers too. I guess every girl wants to be pampered every now and then, right?! Even though this hotel room was a wonderful end to a remarkable week, I'm still thinking home will triumph it Saturday night. Getting excited!</span><br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-4333517213308800812013-07-27T20:37:00.003-07:002013-07-28T06:50:02.210-07:00Now for some Paris "culture..."<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When we woke up we headed straight for the Louve to hopefully get ahead of the crowds. Since we only had a short amount of time we probably didn't get even get close to seeing a quarter of the building, but we did get a picture of the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, and saw as much as we could in this enormous building before having to leave. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After the Louve we went to the Arc de Triomphe and risked our lives taking a picture in the middle of the street. Time was our enemy, so we took our pictures and then headed on to the Eiffle Tower. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We went up to the second floor of the Eiffle Tower, and were able to get some great pictures of the city. Have I mentioned yet that we managed to get through the whole week without it raining?! The weather was beautiful and skies were clear all week long. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Personal thoughts on Paris: the good, the bad, and the ugly...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>The good</u>: A lot of history and so much to do that you really need several days to take it all in. It's definitely a place that you should go to if you are interested, especially if you enjoy art and history. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>The bad</u>: The litter and the smell of trash along the streets was really disgusting. I've also heard that French people are unfortunately not friendly for the most part, and have to be honest that for the most part I could agree. :/ </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>The ugly</u>: Gypsies are everywhere! I was approached at a sub ticket machine where I was putting money on a card by a lady asking me to sign a piece of paper. Well "Momma didn't raise no fool" because I didn't even look at her and told her to basically go away. We found out later that they ask for your signature in hopes to get a glimpse of where your money is at, and probably in hopes to steal a credit card so they can later forge your signature. Anyway, Amy actually witnessed them in action doing this very thing. All to say that if you go to Paris--be on alert.</span><br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-90668260547593568202013-07-27T20:36:00.002-07:002013-07-28T06:26:01.831-07:00Off to Paris<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We left <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Wednesday morning</a> for Paris, and actually spent a whole day at the "happiest place on Earth". Yes, we spent 1 out of our 2 day stay in Paris at Disneyland. You are more than welcome to judge us for not taking in the historical culture in Paris, but I have to admit that spending a day embracing our inner child was a blast. Amy is actually a Disneyland/world princess (AKA fanatic), and had the whole day mapped out for us. She's been to both Disneyworld and Disneyland in the states almost 10 times, and was the one that orchestrated this idea of going to Disneyland in Paris. By the end of the day we decided that Paris Disneyland couldn't hold a candle to Disneyland in CA or Disneyworld in FL, but it was still a lot of fun and I'm so glad we went! If you haven't judged me yet, you may start now because we definitely bought and wore Minnie Mouse ears, and then rode just about all of the little kid rides in the park (including my child favorite, Dumbo). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*Fun fact that I learned about Disneyland/world from Amy...On every ride in the park there are hidden Mickey's to be found. Isn't that cool? On your next Disney experience, see if you can find all the hidden Mickey ears on each ride.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*Another side note--Amy rode Space Mountain (Mission 2) and reported back that it's very different than the one in the states. She said that it nearly gave her a concussion from all of the twists, turns, and loops during the ride. Kinda glad I skipped out on this one! Yikes!</span><br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-79299959456260334522013-07-27T20:35:00.003-07:002013-07-28T07:01:14.624-07:00Taking in more royalty--Windsor Castle<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">On Tuesday morning</a> we took a train to Windsor to see another home to Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor Castle. It was absolutely beautiful in and around the castle area. We toured the state rooms and Queen Mary's dollhouse. The rooms are just as glamorous and ornate as you can imagine. We obviously couldn't take pictures inside, but I'll post the ones that we took outside the castle including a couple from the main street in front of the castle area. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After touring Windsor Castle we ate at "The Horse and Groom", and had the best onion rings and fish and chips-yum yum! There's been a pub at that restaurant site since before 1719! It was certainly a very historical, fun place to relax for lunch. AND how many people can say that they ate lunch while facing a castle?! We sat outside and unfortunately there was a low entry way...I obviously wasn't paying attention to the warning sign either. (Fun fact: they say "mind" instead of "watch").</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When we left Windsor it was already time to head back to the hotel to get ready for Les Miserables that night! It was Amy's first time to see this musical, and Jenna's first musical that she's ever seen. A lot of pressure was on this night, but thankfully Jenna & Amy both seemed to really enjoy it. The vocalists and musicians didn't disappoint, they were truly incredible. This was actually my first time to see Les Mis performed by professional musicians, and I decided that this musical (when performed well) is probably one of my absolute favorites.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-59267885462719492352013-07-27T20:33:00.002-07:002013-07-28T07:33:14.626-07:00Royal Baby!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As I mentioned in the last post we woke up <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Monday morning</a> to the news that Kate was admitted to St. Mary's hospital and in labor!! At this point we decided to plan part of our day around this event and take in the local hype around this piece of history. </span>However, we already had some concrete plans set in place that we needed to do first. So we left the hotel and took a 30 minute boat tour down the Thames River to the Tower of London. <br />
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We then took a tour directed by a Beefeater at the Tower of London. Beefeaters are guardians of the tower and actually live at the Tower of London. We also walked through the crown jewels exhibit, which holds jeweled swords, crowns, and anything that would be used for a coronation ceremony (other than the coronation chair which is housed at Westiminister Abbey). The crown of jewels was a jaw opening, eyes wide open feeling moment after moment. Absolutely amazing! <br />
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*Fun fact that we learned on our tour of the Tower of London were centered around two princes who disappeared around their pre-teen ages, which meant the uncle was next in line to the throne. The boys were never found until many years later (past the time of their generation) when two bodies were found behind an old trapped door within the Tower of London area. Any detective such as yourself might have guessed along with many others that their uncle likely killed and buried these boys himself to gain his royal power. Sounds like a movie doesn't it?! <br />
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After we left the Tower of London, we headed to Saint Mary's to hopefully take pictures of the hospital and to see the news and press crews. I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to be exactly where the press was, and to actually get pictures of the private wing that Will and Kate were in. We found the Today's show and Fox News stationed there, but unfortunately couldn't find any other American news station there at that time. :( <br />
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That afternoon we toured Kensington Palace, and then got to see a special exhibit dedicated to the royal fashion from Queen Elizabeth II in the 50's through Princess Diana in the 80s. Isn't this day adding up to be the perfect girls day?! Crown jewels, royal fashion, and then the royal baby extravaganza! :) <br />
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In the evening we headed back to the Thames River to ride the London eye. It moves really slow so it never has to stop to load people, which means that one ticket buys one turn on the Farris wheel. It might sound like a lame ride, but it was the perfect place to take really good pictures of London, and to see where everything is in relationship to each other. <br />
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After eating dinner along the river we heard that the baby had been born, and that the proclamation was announced at Buckingham Palace. So like any good tourist we decided to forgo an earlier bedtime, and went straight to Buckingham Palace to see the proclamation. As you can imagine the atmosphere was crazy! People were everywhere, and everyone was pushing each other around to get their perfect picture of that tiny piece of paper on the easel. Thankfully police officers began working the area shortly after we got there, and added some organization to the chaos. This organization enabled us to finally get our perfect picture of that tiny piece of paper. Even though it was not an enjoyable experience to stand in a mosh pit of everyone's sweat, while also having to constantly vie for our place in line. It was completely worth it and an experience that I'm sure we'll never forget.<br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-27415282834357010102013-07-27T20:32:00.004-07:002013-07-30T07:23:31.784-07:00Fourth times the charm!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Last Sunday I traveled to London to meet up with Amy (past P.E. teacher at Arrowhead) and Jenna (Speech Pathologist at Arrowhead). I thankfully made it through check-in in Italy, customs in London, and had no problems with my luggage (Woo Hoo!) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Once I arrived in London and dropped off my luggage at the hotel, Amy, Jenna, and I went to a local British pub/restaurant for fish and chips. It's so nice to be in a relatively familiar place to home, and especially a place where English is the first language. While we were eating an older Scottish gentleman, Steve Anderson, came up and began talking to us. Even though we were a little weirded out, we knew he was just a nice older gentleman looking for company. We didn't talk too long with him, but within the conversation we somehow got on the topic of the coming Royal baby. He offered to us his promised prediction that the Royal baby would definitely be born the next day (Monday), and that it would be a boy. Laughing under our breath at his extreme certainty in his belief, you can imagine how astonished we were the next morning to hear that Kate was at the hospital in labor and later that day to hear that it was indeed a boy. We feel like we owe Steve an apology for being so cynical and not taking his prediction so serious. I will say that he also predicted that the baby would be named Albert, but I'd say 2 out of 3 is still pretty impressive!</span><br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-62076914537923200432013-07-21T09:58:00.003-07:002013-07-30T08:37:37.935-07:00Last day in Italy--out with a "Buzz"<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0976563); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(191, 107, 82, 0.496094); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px;">We started the day touring the Vatican Museum, which includes the "Sistine Chapel". If you've never seen the Sistine Chapel it is just as amazing and intricate as you've always heard. With everything that we saw in Rome, I kept thinking 'wow, this is actually "it"'. You hear and read about all of these places, but to actually see them is a whole new experience. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After a stop for lunch we went to St. Peter's Basillica, which as it should puts every other cathedral/basillica to shame. We also went underneath the Basillica and saw where some popes and other prominent people are buried. The neatest part was seeing where the remains of the apostle Peter are buried. I'm having trouble finding a word that describes how incredibly neat that was to see. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">After we left St. Peter's Basillica we had probably the best gelato that we've had all week at a place in that area called, "Old Bridge". I had strawberry, chocolate, and cookies with biscotti which was absolutely delicious! I guess we had dessert first that night because shortly after we finished our gelato we walked around a little bit more, and then ate pizza one last time. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">My initial entry would probably end here, but it wouldn't be a Lance & Michelle vacation without one last "story".... Lance and I finally went to bed around 12:30 in the morning, and I realized I forgot to turn the bathroom light off. I should preface the rest of this by saying that there are 4 different light switches in this bathroom. 3 are side by side in one place (one of which Lance and I neither one could figure out what it's purpose was) and the other one was by the bathroom mirror close to the shower. I was unaware of the one that was by the mirror partially because it wasn't a normal light switch and in my mind was slightly camouflaged, hence the story... So I went to turn off the light and went to the three that were side by side to turn it off and couldn't figure out why the light wasn't turning off. Lance said "go to the one that is by the mirror". So then I noticed a string that was hanging down beside the mirror in between the mirror and the shower and thought "oh it must be an old type of light switch that is connected to a string" (let me preface this by saying this was not my brightest moment), and so I pulled the string. All of sudden an extremely loud buzzer starts ringing throughout the entire hotel. Apparently I pulled the switch that basically means "I've fallen in the shower and need help" or something of that nature. It's ringing SO loud, and neither one of us could figure out how to turn it off. So the owner/manager of the hotel comes to our room, by this point Lance is completely under the covers because he was so embarrassed. If you know Lance you would know that he is a rule follower and is not one to ever make a scene. He will even refuse to order something on a menu if it means that he will have to special order it, so needless to say this really wasn't humorous to him at all. If you remember that mystery light switch that I was mentioning earlier, well we now know that it's used to turn off the emergency buzzer. :) Fortunately after I got back into bed, Lance and I both got a really good laugh out of it. The next morning Chris asked if we knew anything about that ridiculously loud and annoying alarm that happened in the middle of the night...'well we actually do...'</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">*I guess we were "going out with a bang" or in this case a 'buzz'...</span>Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-51465453744081205422013-07-21T06:25:00.003-07:002013-07-30T08:20:22.014-07:00Cinque TerreMy brother and sister in law (Brian and Whitney) both talked about how pretty Cinque Terre was when they vacationed in Europe a few years ago. I couldn't wait to go to this area and see it for myself. I really enjoy scenic places, something Lance says is a "Weir thing" (Weir is my maiden name). I think he's amazed that I'd rather look out the window for 4 hours on a train than read a book or play games, but I just really enjoy seeing the landscapes in different areas and taking it all in. If you are unfamiliar with Cinque Terre, you are not alone. It's on the north western side of Italy and is five little villages that run along side the coast of the Italian Riviera. If you can imagine mountains next to the ocean, then you've got a pretty good indication of what the area was like. We visited the two most northern villages, Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza. There are nice trails that run along the coast connecting each village, so we started in Vernazza and hiked to Monterosso. The hike took us approximately an hour 1/2 I believe. It was definitely not an easy hike, but the views along the hike were one postcard view after another so we definitely took advantage of taking another good picture on the camera.<br />
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Vernazza!</div>
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I think Chris is getting tired...</div>
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It's the little successes along the way :)</div>
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Still smiling!</div>
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Monterosso!</div>
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Monterosso al Mare is the most touristy of the five villages and has two beaches available for swimming and lounging. Chris and Mel thought ahead and packed swimsuits so they could swim, while Lance and I enjoyed laying in the beach chair with the ocean view. Other than getting up for lunch, we spent the majority of the afternoon lounging on the beach. After three weeks of traveling, including a lot of walking in Rome, this part of the day was absolutely wonderful!<br />
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Later that afternoon we got back on the train and went back to Rome for the rest of the trip. The train was 6 hours long and unfortunately we had no time to eat dinner. When we arrived in Rome all of the eating places around the train station were closed, and we realized that because we chose a hotel close to the airport it was further away from the rest of the city. Needless to say, we went to bed that night without eating much of a dinner. The experiences along the way are what make a vacation a vacation--right?! ;) <br />
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*little did we know this would be one of the last things we would eat for the day...Glad it was really yummy!!Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-61977022357514145552013-07-21T06:01:00.003-07:002013-07-30T09:37:05.806-07:00Firenze (Florence)On Wednesday morning we took a train to Florence and had a relatively relaxing first day. Our hotel was within a few feet of the Duomo, so we were right in the middle of everything. We made reservations with both art museums for the following day, and spent the rest of day walking around the city. Lance and Chris decided to visit the Galileo science museum in the afternoon, while Melodi and I opted to take in some shopping instead. The Galileo museum is probably every engineers dream to visit as they both were still lit up when they returned from everything they saw and learned. Apparently Mel and I really missed out because this museum also displays Galileo's thumb, middle finger, and a tooth. Completely random, and a little disturbing, but they loved it. We went to the Duomo that afternoon and walked around the inside of the cathedral, then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city together and doing a little more souvenior shopping. A friend of mine, Jack Thomas, told me that Florence is known for their leather and that I should get some leather while I'm there. I didn't really think I would spend any money on myself, but ended up making a good sale at a leather store on a duffle size bag. Lance ended up getting a leather belt and wallet while we were there too. So much for not souvenir shopping for myself! :) That night we walked up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which has a gorgeous panoramic view of the city area. <br />
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The Duomo, pictures could never do this justice</div>
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This is called "Il Porcellino" (Italian for the Piglet)</div>
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Fayetteville, AR has a replica of this on campus across from the law school</div>
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The next day we went to the Uffizi renaissance art museum in the morning. I wish Melodi was writing for me at this point in the blog because this day was 'right up her alley'. I definitely appreciate art, but she knows art history so much better than anyone in the family and obviously really enjoyed and appreciated all the art on a much deeper level than the rest of us. During the afternoon we went to the Accademia Gallery museum primarily to see the "David by Michelangelo". They also had a special part of the museum that held baroque to early classical era orchestral instruments. It's interesting to see how instruments have evolved over time and to put into perspective that these were the instruments that first played some of the greatest baroque and early classical era compositions.<br />
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Florence is such a beautiful part of Italy due to the river running through the town and the hills around the city. Even though we did everything we wanted to do, I wish we would have had more time in Florence just because it was such a pretty city and the food was delicious! The dinner we had in Florence was probably the best dinner we had all week. Florence is apparently known for good eating and it certainly didn't disappoint!<br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">That evening we took a train to La Spezia, which is a 5 minute train from Cinque Terre to stay for the night. :)</span>Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-41193896554594779472013-07-17T04:59:00.000-07:002013-07-30T08:27:33.758-07:00First four days in Italy<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">So once again this is the part of the trip that my husband, brother in law, sister in law, and I could enjoy together. We have been going non-stop since we've been in Rome to see everything we've been wanting to see and more. It wouldn't be a trip with Chris McCarver without taking in some good Italian cuisine too, including ending nearly every night with gelato (Italian ice cream). I'm hopeful that all the walking is off-setting all the calories that I'm consuming. Thankfully my clothes aren't fitting any tighter, so I would assume that is a good sign?! I guess the scale will confirm when I return, though (fingers crossed)! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I thought it might be easier for a quick catch up to list everywhere we've been so far. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Saturday sights</u>: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Trevi fountain, </span>Quarinale (government building built by Napoleon), and Santa Maria Maggiore (basilica that claims to have pieces of the cross of Christ inside)<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Sunday sights</u>: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ancient Rome...We visited the Colosseum, Roman Forum (government center for 1000+ years, and includes several different eras of buildings and temples), Palatino Hills (where Caesars including Caesar Augustus' and other wealthy Romans lived, it's also where Romulus & Remus started Rome), and ended the day walking the Spanish Steps, which led us to a rewarding view of the area. </span><br />
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Spanish steps</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Monday sights:</u> We saw the Pantheon, which was originally built as a Polytheistic temple by Julius Caesar and then later converted to a Christian church by Roman Catholics. Then we walked to Circo Massimo (chariot races and battles re-enacted by gladiators happened here, think Ben-hur chariot race too?) followed by a hour and 45 minute walk (not all flat by the way) to the Catacombs di San Callisto. The Catacombs were used to bury Christian martyrs underground during the Roman persecution. It was also used to bury Christians for another 600 years after Constantine turned Rome into a Christian state. The one Catacomb that we went into measured 13 miles long and buried 1/2 million Christians. It also held at one time several early Popes who were martyred, and a few saints who were martyred were also buried there. Really really interesting!! </span><br />
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Current government building</div>
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Pantheon</div>
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Circo Massimo</div>
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The old entrance into Rome</div>
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I nearly screamed "hallelujah" when I saw this sign..after such a long, hot walk, we finally made it!</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Tuesday sights:</u> When Lance and I returned from the airport with my luggage (yay!), we met up with Chris and Mel and took a subway close to Vatican City to see Castle Sant Angelo. It was a mausoleum built by Caesar Hadrian around 100 AD (he also built Hadrian's Wall in the UK). After Rome converted to Christianity under Constantine around 300 AD it started to be used by the Pope as a defensive structure, and it evolved over several hundred years into a castle that was easily defensed in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance years. It even had a elevated passageway for quick and safe passage from St. Peter's Basilica, which was used several times when armies would try and attack and kill the Pope. The castle itself was beautiful and also made for great pictures from an outlook at the top of the castle. I'm looking forward to posting these pictures! When we left Castle Sant Angelo we walked to Piaaza del Popolo, and then rode the subway back to our hotel. I think we were still tired from all the walking the day before so we were ready to get back to our hotel to rest. :) </span><br />
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Castle Sant Angelo</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The rest of the week includes a night stay in Florence, and Cinque Terre then a train back to Rome for the final day. From my perspective Rome in a nutshell is that it's dirty, but holds so much history that makes walking trashy streets completely worth it! Everyone should put Rome on their lifelong bucket list! As Chris (brother in law) would so eloquotely say, Rome is "cool as crap"! ;) And no, I have never understood that phrase, but I heard that enough over the week that I needed to include that Chris quote. :)</span><br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-26161792083637916472013-07-15T07:15:00.000-07:002013-07-30T09:33:42.351-07:003 for 3 on travel day misfortunes :)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Since I chose to stay out with my friends until <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">1:30 a.m.</a> in Austria, I ended up just staying awake through the whole night because a taxi was scheduled to pick me up <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">at 4:00 a.m.</a> to get me to the airport for my <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://2" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">6:30 a.m.</a> flight. I was surprisingly not that tired through the night, perhaps just too amped up from the night before and real excited about meeting Lance, Chris and Mel in Italy. Thankfully there was once again no problems in the airport with my passport, so I arrived in Rome with no problems. However, the flight from Salzburg to my connecting in Berlin was so small that my carry-on suitcase couldn't fit in the overhead bin. So they had to take my luggage and put it with the other checked luggage below. They assured me that it would make it to Rome just fine, but it didn't. I later found out that the tag completed by the airline was filled out incorrectly and Rome was listed as the connecting and Berlin as the final destination. The luggage made it to Rome <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://3" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Sunday afternoon</a>, but I was told that it would be delivered by the airport and it's best to wait at the hotel. Another two days goes by, and I asked if I could go to the airport to get it myself. Long story short, I should have done that Sunday because losing two hours to travel back and forth from the airport was a lot better than wearing another shirt of Lances and Mels shorts that she graciously let me borrow. The good news is that I have my luggage, though! I now feel like my vacation in Italy has finally started! </span>Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-35940940158138811542013-07-14T09:02:00.002-07:002013-07-28T08:12:12.676-07:00Day Five--Bittersweet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The final lecture was presented by Michel and Maniela on the work they have done in a village in Romania. They have connected with some teachers in the area and have guest taught music drama for students age 6-18 (I believe). It was interesting watching the video clips of them working with these students and what type of lessons the students were able to achieve with relatively no prior music training. This lecture also made me wonder why the American Orff-Schulwerk Organization is so huge with well trained teachers in comparison to other countries. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sonja's class began with a movement game using coasters where she inadvertently worked at getting us to think and move in 8 counts. We followed this activity by shadowing in groups of four, and then creating an individual 8 beat rhythmic sound phrase. We were then instructed to add movements to our 8 beat rhythmic sound phrase and then go back to our shadowing groups and teach it to our group. In our groups we created a final 32 beat movement phrase using the ideas from our group, and as an entire class we performed this along with a whole class movement phrase in Rondo form.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Doris' class was centered on newspaper. We improvised with different sounds using newspaper, created a skit using our newspaper, and then finished class by creating a newspaper movement with a partner. I don't want to say too much about this lesson because I'm really thinking that I will share this at some point and I don't want to give it away. She used a poem as the framework and we incorporated sound, drama, and moved in canon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After class me and Joyce went to the City Center and did some shopping. Neither one of us had much of a chance to do any shopping, so we went to some touristy stores, clothing stores, and chocolate stores. :) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"International night" at the Orff Institute was from 7-9 that night, so we left in time to get back for that. Anyone could share a folk song or folk dance from their country that night, and the U.S. represented! Luann, a music teacher from Kentucky, and I presented "Alabama Gal". Everyone seemed to love it! I wish I would have had someone take pictures of everyone dancing, though. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Afterwards my new friends and I went back to the city center for dinner. However, most of the restaurants were closed by the time we got out there, so on our last night we ended up eating from a Bratwurst stand. It was actually really good, but we were hoping for a restaurant. We made it back to the dorm by 1:30 and said our goodbye's. :(</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The day was definitely bittersweet. I had such a great week of learning and a wonderful time hanging out with my new friends, but I guess all good things must come to an end. </span><br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-15914954064755533562013-07-14T08:20:00.002-07:002013-07-28T08:06:18.765-07:00It's really Thursday?!<br />
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The morning lecture was absolutely wonderful. The presenter, Christine Schronner, has devoted the last 10 years of her career to working with the elderly. She set up a music class at a local nursing home where she taught once a week for an hour. She had quite a collection of video clips from her early years working with her "students" up until the present. Using the Orff approach in this atmosphere created a sense of community, laughter, and a special bond between class members that was evident just through observing the video clips. Her joy and energy to work with this group of people is truly inspiring. She compiled these video clips onto one DVD that I couldn't leave without buying. From a practical standpoint several of the activities she did with her "students" would be perfect for me to use with kindergarten and first grade. I'm looking forward to watching this video from start to finish. If any music friends would like to borrow it, you are more than welcome to do so. I'll promise you'll love every minute of it.</div>
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Sonja's class was centered on movement with stockings. We used them like elastic bands in individual, partner and group work. I think my students from young to older would really enjoy some of the ideas she presented with this manipulative.<br />
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Doris' class was also filled with fun ideas to couple chant, singing, and games together in such a fun way. It was a combination of a nonsense syllable song with a foot game (like a complicated hop scotch). Perhaps at some point I can share this activity with some of my Tulsa music colleagues?!</div>
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That night for the closing session Ari and another staff member, Michel Wilhemd presented several activities using body percussion, voice and instruments. It was a lot of fun and there is one particular lesson that I'd also like to share with my music friends using improvisation on boomwackers.</div>
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That evening we went back to the city center and had a nice, delicious German dinner of wiener shintzel. As expected, dinner was definitely a good time!<br />
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-55628634226740716812013-07-13T23:02:00.004-07:002013-07-28T07:59:32.558-07:00Day three--Experiences<br />
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John Dewey said "we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience". </div>
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This is the bonus of being three days behind on my blog, time for reflection. :) This day was probably the least inspiring, but left me with plenty to "play" with in my mind as I think about leading my students through their own musical experiences.</div>
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The morning lecture today was a continuation of the same topic from yesterday except by a different presenter--Evelyn Wohlfahrter. She also has spent a considerable amount of time working with people with disabilities. The main crux of her presentation was "when true inclusion is reached there will be no "inclusion"". In between her personal experiences growing up with a neighbor with Down syndrome and now working with people of varying disabilities, she is left with the valid belief that we all have strengths and we all have weaknesses in our own body and in our own abilities. There is no normal. She actually created a music video with two of her adult students showing the 'beauty and uniqueness' of making music and movement with people with a "disability". Her film was selected and won at a nearby music film festival in the Austria/Germany area earlier this year. I should also mention that Evelyn is 38ish, what an honor so early in her career.</div>
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Sonja's class today was focused on taking a main idea from a folk dance (the folk dance she chose was "Sellengers Round") and then taking ideas from that dance to lead us into choreographing a creative movement piece. Once again, I can't remember who the presenter was, but I was taught this same lesson idea at the professional development conference last fall. I still really enjoyed watching her process the lesson knowing where she was going with it, and a refresher is always nice too! I love this idea of taking a main idea from a folk dance and taking bits and pieces of that dance to form boundaries to allow for creative movement. Very "orffy"!</div>
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Doris' class was focused on nature and taking qualities of nature to evoke a creative movement choreography. We were asked to bring something from nature into the class (i.e. a rock, leaf, flower, etc). By the end of the activity we were paired into groups of 5, and asked to group our individual nature items into one picture. The "picture" became the framework for improvised choreography to explore the qualities of each object.</div>
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*you might wonder why so much of Orff is focused on movement. The Orff approach is based on experience first learning, so learning by doing. Young students tend to be more kinesthetic learners anyway, so after exploring ideas kinesthetically in their body they would be more successful at learning and transferring ideas to other musical experiences (i.e. singing, and playing instruments). There were other classes I could have taken that were not so heavily focused on movement, but it's hard to pass an opportunity not to work with actual movement/dance instructors at the institute.</div>
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Can I be honest about my next class again?! I'm quickly realizing who in the class has not had too many experiences with Orff-Schulwerk. When Ari asked at the end of his lesson what were our thoughts of the activity, my mind went to the classroom and the practical use of the material. However, majority of the people in the class were focused on them self and how it made them feel emotionally. I feel like an 'Orff Snob' when I say that I'm not into as my new Australian friend Joyce would say "Kimbayaa conversation". Comments like "music is life", "the world is nothing without music", and "this experience was like esctacy" were phrases exchanged throughout the room. Obviously I'm glad they were 'moved', but I guess I'm just not wired that way to have such emotional highs on something of that nature. I really struggled the rest of the week not being judgmental, maybe it all goes back to the fact that I've been lucky enough to have more Orff-like musical experiences so its hard for me to relate to their emotional highs? I don't know, but I guess we are all in different places and experience activities in different ways.</div>
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They gave us a free <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">night on Wednesday</a>, so we went to the city center for dinner. We ate at a restaurant that night that had a nice size garden area in the back with picnic tables, and different businesses inside to buy food. It was a nice, laid back, relaxing way to end such a <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">Wednesday night</a>. Lots of laughs, lots of good stories, and lots of good food.</div>
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Perhaps this was my "esctacy experience"?!</div>
Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-26155011905977494712013-07-12T20:45:00.000-07:002013-07-28T07:49:12.084-07:00Day Two--Being honest...It's actually Friday night and I am pulling an all nighter waiting for my taxi that is suppose to be here at 4:00 a.m. I am so sorry that I've done such a horrible job keeping this blog going. The class was definitely keeping me busy, and the internet in my room has been absolutely worthless. The majority of the time I have to stick my IPad out the window in my room to get a signal. Really not convenient. ;)<br />
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The theme of this year's International Summer Course is "Music for All". Not only do the course topics reflect the theme, but also the participants taking the class. There are participants that aren't musicians, but teach general ed, there are music teachers that work with babies and toddlers, and there are even high school choir teachers participating. The majority of attenders do teach elementary music, but even in the US each school can be very different. All to say, the backgrounds and experiences of people attending this course is very diverse, which has made for interesting group and partner work. Sometimes it can add to the overall product when diversity is so prevalent, and sometimes it can be a challenge. We've definitely had a little bit of both, if I'm being honest. :)<br />
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On Tuesday the morning lecture was on teaching music in inclusive classrooms. The Orff Institute offers classes for people with varying disabilities regardless of age, and staff from the Institute work with these classes. The lecturerer was Shirley Salmon who has spent many years teaching music through the Orff approach to people with disabilities. She included various video clips for us to see how differing classes respond and how she structures her lessons to accomodate. She has written several books for music teachers, and I actually bought one of them called "Hello Everybody," which includes several lessons she teaches to students with disabilities, but also included great ideas for use with primary aged children.<br />
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Sonja's class included several movement games through exploration and moving and interalizing 8 count phrases. We used a lot of the same ideas that Andrea Ostertag (another staff member at the Orff institute) presented at the AOSA conference in St. Louis. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that she was presenting material that I already know, but at the same time it was interesting to watch someone else's process in teaching when you actually know where they are heading at the end of the lesson.<br />
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Doris' class began with teaching us a street game with Bamboo sticks to a folk song from Taiwan. There were actually some ladies from Taiwan that knew a similar version of the song that they performed for the class. It was so adorable watching them sing it that I had to ask them to repeat the performance again for me to videotape. If it's possible for me to post video on this blog, I will definitely post this clip! <br />
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Ari's class was similar to yesterday's, but we transferred the body percussion to hand drums. This is very "Orff", before playing on an instrument it's first experienced through body percussion (clap, snap, pat, and stomp). Ari improvised the various rhythmic patterns that we performed on hand drum and also he improvised various sound structures that we also repeated. His main teaching model is using call and response. The teacher does something and the student echos, and this idea repeats.<br />
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I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I played hookie for the last evening class. The last class includes everyone enrolled in the course and is taught by differing staff members and can be anything the presenter wants to share. I played "hookie" for a good reason though....I really wanted to see the Marionette Theater production of the "Sound of Music", so since Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. was the only night this week they were offering this musical--it seemed logical to go. So I grabbed a bratworst at a stand in the city center and went to the theater. It was absolutely wonderful! If you ever come to Salzburg you need to see a marrionite play. They had other options too like "A Mid Summer Night's Dream" and "The Magic Flute", as well as some others through the week and weekend. I ended up sitting next to a family from Texas and felt right at home. :) <br />
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I guess sometimes being a rebel has its benefits. :)Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-89265455149285575912013-07-11T07:20:00.001-07:002013-07-11T07:23:34.768-07:00First day of classThere are approximately 150 people participating in the summer course from all over the world. There are people here from China, Australia, Brazil, and all over the Europe area. I believe there are only two other American's other than myself that are here this week, so we are definitely in the minority. Luckily just about everyone speaks English as a second language, so I've had it pretty easy. The accents sometimes get in the way of understanding one another, but it has been interesting to compare cultural backgrounds and perspectives with one another. I believe later on this week there will be an "international night" where people can share songs, dances, or games from their country with one another. There are so many great folk songs, play parties, and folk dances from America, I am not even sure what I would decide on. Any ideas from my fellow elementary music teachers?<br />
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My schedule:</div>
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9:00-10:30 - Morning lecture (All participates together taught by Orff Institute staff)</div>
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11:00-12:30 - From Patterns to Composition in Dance (elective class taught by Sonja Stibi)</div>
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2:30-4:00 - Dance Approaches (elective class taught by Doris Valtiner)</div>
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4:30-6:00 - The Adventure of Rhythm (elective class taught by Ari Glage)</div>
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6:30-8:00 - Singing & Dancing (All participates together taught by Orff Institute staff)</div>
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The morning lecture today was on the history and direction of Orff-Schulwerk. Manuela Widmer led the lecture and included various video from performances throughout the years, including Gunild Keetman playing the recorder and pictures of Carl Orff when he was three years old playing a drum.</div>
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Sonja's class today was centered on small group and large group mirroring based on qualities found in Turkish bowls that she had bought. This idea was then transferred to designing a cheorography in small groups using the lines, colors, and shapes found in the bowls as inspiration. The majority of the participants in this class I would say have either had dance experience or have taken an equivalent to a levels course. The creativity among the group has actually been pretty good. </div>
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Doris' class was centered on a tribal theme, which I thought was particularly interesting and something I thought would be very easy to bring back into the classroom. She connected us to one another in the form of a circle using thick dol rod sticks that we balanced in the palm of our hands. We were asked to explore various levels, while changing the formation of the circle so making our formation asymmetric in different ways. I wish I could have taken a picture of this, but we're not allowed to take pictures in class. The sticks then became a prop in a tribal dance, and singing game. To bring all the activities together she cheorgraphed a basic form which we used all of these ideas to create one big cheorographed movement using the song in the last dance and singing game. She ended the class by introducing a street game using bamboo sticks that we will learn tomorrow.</div>
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The last elective class of the day was filled with body percussion and improvised sound using harmony and polyrhythmic ideas. Today I was reminded of the importance of giving an activity time for students to get comfortable with what is being taught. Often times I rush the activity and don't allow enough time to really "milk it". At first I was thinking "okay when are we going to do something else", but then I realized time was needed in order for us to really 'get it' and to allow the creativity and improvisation to develop in the group.</div>
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By the time class was over I was completely drained, but I went to the final class anyway. I had some of my new friends ask if I was alright, I don't think I wasn't hiding my exhaustion too well. ;) That night Karla (Finland), Joyce, Ginny, Laura (all three from Australia), and Suzanne (Germany) went to the local McDonalds for dinner. I was a little confused at first when the Aussie's picked the dinner place because they said "lets just go to McAies". Then I later found out that is what they call McDonalds in Australia, and apparently a few years ago a group of Australians were able to get the McDonalds signs changed to "McAies" (don't quote me on the spelling). I had to tease them about that because I was already getting my fair share of teasing for saying "y'all". I guess my southern upbringing comes out more than I think. ;)</div>
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-8646304877321271052013-07-09T14:40:00.000-07:002013-07-28T07:56:00.066-07:00The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow-weekend blissWhen I woke up Saturday morning it was a beautiful day outside, and actually has stayed pretty nice ever since. The weather is in the 70s here, so it's been pretty perfect outside. Much different than what I hear we are getting back home. <br />
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When I was planning my trip to Salzburg I had purposely planned to arrive in Austria a couple of days before my class to do some sight seeing. I booked two tours with "Bob's Tour Bus" (sounds real hokey doesn't it?!), but both tours were great! I highly recommend this company if you ever do any sight-seeing in Salzburg! I scheduled the "Sound of Music" tour on Saturday morning, and the "Bavarian" tour on Sunday morning. However, while I was on the "Sound of Music" tour, the tour guide encouraged me to do the "Bavarian" tour that afternoon instead of waiting until Saturday just in case in started raining again. I wasn't about to let rain interfere with my Salzburg plans again, so I happily agreed. <br />
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The "Sound of Music" tour included seeing the convent, the area where she sang "The Hills are Alive", the open area that she began "Do Re Mi" with the children, the mirabell garden area at the end of "Do Re Mi", the gozebo in "I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen", the church where they married, and the Frohnburg (the place that I'm staying for the week). We also had the opportunity to do some other activities on the tour. He stopped at a place in Old Salzburg to let us ride a Toboggan, which I jumped at the opportunity to do so. Someone happened to take a picture of me coming down the Toboggan, and said she would email it to me, but I haven't received it yet. We also stopped for lunch in the old town of Salzburg and faced the area that I was referring to earlier where she began singing "Do Re Mi". I have that picture posted below. <br />
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The Bavarian tour included seeing the eagles nest, and seeing the beautiful sights in Berchtesgaden. It was an absolutely beautiful tour through the mountains. As soon as I have better internet (probably not until next week), I will post more pictures. <br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">That night I happened to run into a few people that were at the Orff institute for the International Orff-Schulwerk forum. A number of people representing each countries Orff-Schulwerk organization had the chance to meet at the end of last week to discuss "hot topic" issues in this field. The American Orff-Schulwerk president, Chris Judah-Lauder, was the one I ran into and invited me out to dinner with some of these people along with two ladies from Greece that just got in town for the summer course (the course that I am taking). This was the first time that I had formally met Chris, and she was just as wonderful as I had always heard. I felt so humbled to get to eat with her and some of the others that were here for the forum. It just made me realize how warm and welcoming Orff teachers are regardless of status and leadership within the organization. </span><br />
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On Sunday, I decided to sleep in and do laundry. In the afternoon I went for a jog to and from the city center and found Mozart's birthplace and statue while I was there. It took me about 30 minutes both ways, but it shouldn't have taken that long. I didn't know exactly where I was going, so it took me a little bit to find it and then on the way back I tried a short cut, but it definitely wasn't a short cut. Like I mentioned earlier the weather has been amazing, so it was definitely a perfect afternoon jog. I will also post some pictures from my jog later too. I just kept thinking the whole time that my Tulsa jogs will never been the same after getting to jog around here.<br />
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On Sunday night we had the opening for the summer course, which included an overview of the week and a performance from Das Collectiv. Das Collectiv is a dance group from the institute made up of both students and teachers. They performed choreographed movement from excerpts from "Carmina Burana" (composed by Carl Orff). It was incredible! I had the chance to see them at the American Orff-Schulwerk professional development conference in Pittsburgh almost 2 years ago, so I was excited when I heard that they would be performing just for us that night. After the opening I went back to the city center along with the two ladies from Greece and a girl from Finland that I had actually previously connected with via internet. <br />
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So as you can tell Saturday and Sunday completely made up for the dreadful Friday night I experienced. Once again, as soon as I have better internet I will post more pictures from this last weekend. <br />
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<br />Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-13288610630840642202013-07-08T13:07:00.000-07:002013-07-09T14:38:10.164-07:00McDonalds--my first nights oasisOn Friday I flew into Salzburg, and thankfully had no problems with my passport in the airport (thank you Lord!). I arrived at the Frohnburg, which is my accomodation for the week. It is right next to the Orff Institute. You might recognize it in the "Sound of Music"?! The front of the building was the outside of the Von Trapp family's house. The street leading up to the palace, the one Marie walked down with her suitcase in hand, is the street you can take by foot or bike to get to the main part of the city. <br />
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After getting settled in and realizing that the wifi connection wasn't strong enough to facetime my family, it was getting closer to 6:00 and I was hungry. At this point it starts pouring outside, so I put my rainjacket and flip flops on, and headed to the busiest street nearby. Unfortunately there were no eating places in sight, so I chose a direction and hoped for the best. After a 30 minute walk I found a supermarket, and realized I should probably get some snacks and something to keep in my room for breakfast. I asked the lady at the check-out counter if there was a restaurant close by and she mentioned a McDonalds back in the direction of the Frohnburg (hotel/dorm). At this point in the conversation I realized that grocery stores here don't offer complimentary plastic/paper bags, so I put my things in the plastic bag that my bananas were in. I craddled the bag so it wouldn't rip and walked 20 minutes back in the direction that I came from to get to the McDonalds. By the time I got to the McDonalds, I lost a flip flop trying to cross the road quickly, and my bag ripped just as I was walking through the McDonalds door. Thankfully I was able to get my undamaged flip flop back, and the sweet McDonalds guy gave me a paper sack to put my grocery items in. The high calorie dinner that followed never tasted so good, and by the time I left McDonald's the rain had stopped in enough time for me to walk back to the Frohnburg (approx. 15 min walk). I'm not gonna lie it was not the best first night by myself in Austria, but thankfully the next day was absolutely wonderful.<br />
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<br />Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-68728787131164133342013-07-07T04:53:00.000-07:002013-07-30T09:31:00.902-07:004th of July in Sweden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We began the day glass shopping in Vaxjo. Sweden is known for their glass and have several shops (even outlets) dedicated to selling their Swedish made glass. I attached a couple of pictures that I pulled from the internet below.<br />
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After we finished glass shopping we went on a "moose safari". It's quite possible to see a moose in the "wild", but going to a ranch that has them was the most assuring way to spot one. The moose were contained in a large area that you could walk around. We were able to see a couple of moose, but the oldest one that we came across was laying down so we couldn't tell how big it actually was. This was actually my first time to see a moose. :)<br />
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When we left the "moose safari" we went to one of the castles in Vaxjo. The second floor of the castle was destroyed in an attack with Denmark. The remains of the castle have been preserved, and are used throughout the year for reinactments and other events.<br />
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That night Ede's family served a traditional 4th of July dinner. Ede's mom is actually from America and met her husband studying abroad in high school. After graduating from high school she moved to Sweden, went to college, married and they started their family. They cooked out hamburgers, and served chips, baked beans, and watermelon. It was really delicious. After eating dinner Ede's dad entertained us by playing his guitar while the family joined in singing. They are like a Swedish Von Trapp family! ;) Here are some pictures from the evening...<br />
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One of the most memorable experiences from the night was watching her dad play the "Star Spangled Banner" on his trumpet outside on the balcony. Apparently it's a tradition of his to do that every year on the fourth. Hope the video below works! If not, here is a picture hallmarking the performance! :)<br />
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<br />Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-32513931469165674842013-07-05T11:59:00.000-07:002013-07-07T03:36:13.370-07:00Walking around in Vaxjo<br />
Vaxjo is Ede's hometown, which is located on the southern part of Sweden (it's about 5 1/2 hrs south of Stockholm). A little history about Vaxjo is that in Swedish it means "road by the lake". "'Vag' means road and 'sjo" means lake, and then later on it was combined to one word and the spelling changed to "Vaxjo". The city received this name because when people would give directions to the marketplace, what the area was formly known for, they would say 'follow the road by the lake'. Later the official name was given, and now the city is approximately 700 years old. On Wednesday we actually went to their town market and shopped. The market occurs every Wednesday and Saturday, and sells just about everything you might expect from clothes, to meat (primarily fresh fish), to cute trinkets, and actually a wide variety of kid stuff. Here are a couple of pictures taken at the market. I've realized after looking back at these pictures that I could have done a better job taking them-sorry!<br />
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<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">We ate Swedish style pizza for lunch. They always eat pizza with a knife and a fork. Also, traditionally in Sweden everyone gets their own pizza to eat! Definitely a lot of food, but the pizza was really good.</span><br />
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That night we had dinner with Ede's aunt and uncle at their house. They served a traditional swedish meal and dessert, which were both delicious! If I was thinking about my blog instead of thinking how hungry I was at the time, I would have taken a picture of it for you. The dinner was a meat and vegetable dish, and the dessert was Swedish cheesecake. It's not what we think of as cheesecake, the main ingredient is made from curds. I probably wouldn't have tried it if I knew that ahead of time, but I'm so glad that I did. They served it with strawberry or blueberry sauce and ice cream. My favorite part of the dinner was before they started eating the uncle began singing a Swedish prayer, and the rest of the family joined in singing. It was really beautiful.<br />
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After dinner Ede, Carmen, and I took a walk around the city lake (the lake that I was referring to earlier). The lake isn't that big, maybe 4 miles? There were several joggers, bikers, and fellow walkers that were going around the lake that night too. <br />
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I don't think I've mentioned yet that in the summer Sweden mostly has daylight. So it's like an Alaskan summer. It was nice getting to enjoy more of the evening outside without having to worry about it getting too dark.<br />
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This was the end to the first full day in Sweden. Tomorrow includes glass shopping, a moose safari, a castle, and celebrating the Fourth of July!Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-18082678233102194762013-07-02T08:42:00.000-07:002013-07-02T08:42:18.694-07:00Thoughts after realitively no sleep Here's my top five interesting happenings from airport travel today, none of which are in any particular order. <br />
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1). Anyone that knows me should be unbelievably impressed that I packed everything I needed for the month ahead in a carry on suitcase and a backpack (my close friends and family are gasping I'm sure!) I have to admit that I'm a little impressed with myself too! Due to being selective in my packing, please don't judge me for wearing the same clothes in nearly every other picture that you'll see on this blog. :) Also, those of you that know I like a little jewelry, should know that I only brought three things: 1 pair of earrings, watch, and wedding ring (I think I hear more gasps?!) </div>
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2). Facebook friends have already heard number 2, but for everyone else....I was somewhat surprised when the TSA agent in Tulsa asked if I was military because of using words like "sir", "please", and "thank you". I didn't even realize I was using said words until he pointed it out, just makes me wonder why this isn't the norm?!</div>
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3). I'll preface #3 by saying I'm notorious for learning lessons the hard way. I definitely made a careless, hopefully not costly mistake with my passport and plane tickets. I was under the impression that it was perfectly acceptable to travel with your maiden name on your passport if you had the marriage license in hand. I've learned the hard way that if the passport includes the maiden name then all the airline tickets should also include the maiden name because if I've heard it once today, I've heard it too many times to count that "the passport name must match the ticket". I was almost not allowed on my connecting flight from Chicago to London due to this problem, and have been told that I might be rejected in other countries. I'm wondering if there is anyway to get my last name changed on the rest of my plane tickets, or if its too late at this point. If you have any ideas, please share!<br />
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4). International flights with personal tv's are a life savor when dealing with insomnia. I watched two movies, and then watched the navigational system that showed where our plane was in relation to the world. Pretty interesting! <br />
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5). On the flight from Chicago to London I sat next to an English couple traveling back home after visiting the husbands family in Missouri. It wasn't until we landed that we began talking. The wife shared some interesting ideas of things to see and do when I come back to London at the end of the month, but what I was most impressed with was their thoughtful hospitality. The husband gave me his business card and said to call if I needed anything when I'm back in London in 3 weeks. I certainly hope I wouldn't need them, but the gesture was really sweet and certainly comforting.<br />
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I've made it to Ede's house and her hometown is so adorable. I think we are about to go for a walk to the river that runs through the town in just a little while. By this point I'm trying not to sleep, but I'm starting to feel and look like death. I need a good shower and some good sleep tonight. I'll try to post some pictures later tonight or tomorrow. Until then! :)</div>
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Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158517361357694964.post-55016971185426185962013-06-21T14:11:00.000-07:002013-06-27T20:23:25.533-07:00Trip Overview<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I still can't believe I'm going to be in Europe for 27 days! Pinch me, I must be dreaming is exactly the way I feel right now! This 27 day trip all begin with a generous grant to attend the summer course at the Orff institute in Salzburg, Austria. I've been attending summer courses out of SMU in Dallas the last four summers to learn about the Orff approach. I'll explain more about this philosophy of teaching music in a later post. Since the grant paid for my airfare to Europe, it seemed logical to use this opportunity to stay and travel in Europe a little longer. I will leave the states on Monday, July 1st and will arrive in Sweden the next day. In college I met a dear friend, Ede, that grew up in Vaxjo, Sweden and now teaches music in the Tulsa area. She returns home every summer to visit her family, so I will actually start off my trip in Sweden with her in her hometown. I'm looking forward to taking in the Scandinavian culture while I'm there, and seeing where she grew up. I leave Sweden on July 5th and fly to Salzburg, Austria to sight-see for the weekend, which will include the "Sound of Music" tour and then touring some of the countryside of Austria. My class starts Sunday night and will go through Friday. I absolutely can't wait to see the Institute, and study under some truly brilliant teachers. I'll fly out of Austria on Saturday, July 13th to Rome, Italy and meet up with Lance, and Chris & Mel (brother -n- law & sister -n- law) to help celebrate Lance's 30th birthday! We'll also travel to Florence, Pisa, and Cinque Terre while we are in Italy together! They will be heading back to the states on Sunday, July 21st and then I'm actually traveling to London, England to meet two teacher friends, Amy and Jenna. We'll be staying in London for the majority of the week, with a two day trip to Paris, France. The three of us will travel back to the states together and will arrive Saturday night, July 27th. This will be a whirlwind trip, but I am beyond excited and incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I look forward to using this blog to keep everyone back home updated throughout my trip, as I'm periodically pinching myself of this reality. </span>Michelle http://www.blogger.com/profile/01068618527702575627noreply@blogger.com4