30 Days of Thankfulness – November 7th

I’m thankful today for my students. I don’t always want to teach. Many days I would rather just play with Noah in the afternoons, but I am grateful I have a job doing something I love and that I get to be a part of so many different students’ lives. Overall, my students are a pretty good group of kids. I have some who don’t practice much, but at least those students enjoy coming to lessons each week! Each of my students reminds me why I enjoy what I do, even on days I don’t feel like teaching!

30 Days of Thankfulness – November 3rd

I’ve gone back and forth all day today about what I want to post. Several things that I’m particularly thankful for today came to mind, so I thought I would just make a list. These may be things I post more about later in the month because I’m sure they will come up again!

So, today I’m thankful for:

The fact that an event that I planned/coordinated for the first time happened successfully

Lazy afternoons curled up on the couch with a blanket

A clean house

Being able to practice piano…for fun…and for my job!

All my music teachers who shared with me the gift of music

One of my two boys returning home

An extra hour in my day

Movie nights with my husband

What are you thankful for today??

Why I Love What I Do

(I’m in the process of moving…just blogs, not physically…so, bear with me as I change things and do and re-do things. Site address is baileydailyblog.wordpress.com)

Both yesterday and today I have had awesome reminders of why I love what I do. I’m always excited about starting a new school year of teaching. (I operate and teach in my own piano studio…for the probably 2 or 3 of you who might come across this who don’t know me!) New is exciting. I love seeing the kids I haven’t seen since May or even just since summer lessons ended in July. I have always loved “back to school” time…the supplies, the new-ness, the supplies, the scheduling….oh, and the supplies! (I kind of have a thing for school supplies…or just office supplies in general!)  But, it’s also a stressful time. In my mom’s words (she’s also a piano teacher), I have to basically read the minds of 23 students and determine what they might want to play this year.  I give my kids several choices, and they get to pick their favorites. I firmly believe they will practice more and enjoy piano more if they like what they are playing. Choosing 2-3 pieces (or more in some cases) takes a good 60-75% of the first lesson, so, that’s almost all I’ve done with the majority of my students this week.

Now to the important stuff…

Why I love what I do…

Yesterday, I had a parent text me to let me know that her 3rd grade daughter was so excited about starting back piano lessons that she practiced for 45 minutes after her lesson, and in her words, was “still going strong!” (For those of you who have never had anything to do with piano lessons, that’s a lot for a 3rd grader…typical is 20-30 minutes each day…at most!) The parent sent me another message later in the evening to let me know that she had practiced on and off most of the evening…probably totaling an hour and a half!

I have a very quiet middle school student. She transfered from another teacher to my studio last year. Most of the time, I get the idea that she doesn’t want to be at lessons at all. She rarely smiles and hardly says anything the whole lesson. She occasionally likes one out of every 5-10 pieces I choose for her. Many times, we just have to settle on something that she sort of likes well enough to put up with for awhile. She took lessons over the summer, so she had a few things she had been playing. She played a piece for me that she had pretty much mastered over the summer. I told her I thought it was great and we didn’t need to continue to work on it. She looked at me nervously, and guess what??? She asked if she could keep it and continue playing it for fun!!! Words and joy in making music!! So, our lesson was already off to a good start. Then, we started looking at music. She not only found 2-3 pieces she wanted to play, but she was happy about choosing them!

Students getting excited about making music….why I love what I do

And finally…this afternoon, I was sharing some new pieces with a 4th grade student. I set out a book of pop music and another book of praise and worship music for her. As I played through the pop songs, she sang along while I played. She frequently sings familiar songs in lessons, so I wasn’t at all surprised by this. I started playing from the praise and worship book (which she had requested at our last summer lesson). She continued to sing along as I played, and I didn’t really think anything of it…until we got to “Here I Am to Worship.” Here I was, in a piano lesson with a 4th grader, playing a simplified worship song while she sang along…and, I started tearing up…like, I had to work hard to hold back the tears. I just thought, what a beautiful expression of worship by a little girl in the middle of a piano lesson. How precious it was to hear her little voice singing, “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you’re my God…” Nothing sweeter….

Students worshiping through His gift of music…why I love what I do

I get overwhelmed with all involved in running a studio as well as actually being responsible for teaching in that studio. I get frustrated with kids when they don’t practice, when they don’t remember things from week to week.  I get nervous about choosing new music for students…”will they like it enough to practice it???” It’s nice, especially at the start of a new year, to have these little reminders of why I love what I do.

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 2

Today I’m thankful for unexpected breaks. Wednesday is a hectic day for me. I start teaching slightly earlier than I do the rest of the week, so I have a little less time after putting Noah in bed for his afternoon nap to get ready for lessons than I do on other days. I teach from 3:00 – 6:15 and have to be at church for choir at 6:30. So, I basically have 15 minutes to turn off lights, lock the house, get Noah in his car seat, drive to the church, drop Noah off in the nursery, and get to the worship center. Then I don’t get home until around 8:45 or 9:00. I posted yesterday about being thankful for my students and my occupation as a piano teacher. I absolutely love seeing each of my students every week. However, I will admit that it is a little nice when someone cancels a lesson for the week (although I do miss seing the student!). I felt especially frantic today, and I had a parent call to cancel a lesson this afternoon. It was a much needed break! For the first time all day, I was able to just relax until my next lesson came. Noah was with his babysitter, and I had some quiet, alone time. What a sweet little gift from God! So, today I’m especially thankful for getting a little (and much needed!) unexpected break in my day!

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 1

I’m new(er) to the blogging world. It seems like the big thing to do is a “series” of some sort. For example, last month tons of people did a 31-day blogging challenge…they chose a theme and wrote a post each day of the month of October. I saw it advertised on different blogs beginning in September, and thought, “wow! I should do that!” Then, I forgot about it. Once I remembered, October was starting and I hadn’t thought of anything to write about. Today (very last minute, I know), I got the idea to write a little something each day in the month of November about what I am thankful for. I’m sure this is done all over the blogging community and isn’t a new, revolutionary concept at all. But, I’m in a season of life where I just feel behind all the time. I feel like all I do is work to get caught up. I rarely take the time to stop, reflect, and be thankful for the blessings in my life. This is my effort to do that. Somedays I may write paragraph after paragraph. Other days it may be a sentence or two. Thank you, in advance, for reading, and I want to encourage you to join me. Take a few minutes out of your busy, hectic life to stop and write down something you are thankful for….in a blog, in a journal, on a sticky note, in a comment after reading these posts…whatever works for you! 

Today I am thankful for my occupation. For those of you who don’t know me or what I do, I teach piano lessons through my own studio. While I may not follow all the business rules and do everything the official/correct way, I own and operate my own fairly successful business. I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to do that. I get to set my schedule, choose my work hours, and run things the way I want to. Plus, I get the blessing of teaching some incredible students who have a passion for learning about music. I love getting to see how music and playing the piano influences individuals differently (and how those students impact me!). I can see that just in a single day of teaching. 

Just thinking of my students today…

My one adult student, a woman in her mid 30s – She has always wanted to play the piano. She grew up in the Philippines, and her family was not able to afford lessons. I hope when I’m in my 30s in several short years that I will have the continued desire to pursue my passions and maybe even to learn something new!

3rd grade boy – Today, he recorded himself playing a short, 3-line piece on the Clavinova. After listening to his performance, he quickly assessed what he needed to improve (something he probably would not have done a year ago), and we figured out how to fix the problem. After a couple minutes of practice, he recorded himself again. When he listened back, he beamed with pride at his perfected performance, and said, “man, I did really good on that!” I beamed with pride as well and thought, “he just realized the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with achieving something you have worked hard on!” 

High school freshman girl – She’s only played for about a year but has such a passion and drive for music. I see each week in her lesson how much attention she pays to every single detail. Sometimes she has a question about something in each measure! She is always striving to improve and wants to know what she can do each week to make her pieces better and to become a better musician. 

3rd grade girl – She’s been taking from me since I started teaching in Amarillo. She’s always played well, but this year, she has just improved by leaps and bounds. She wants to be challenged more and more each week. Over the summer, she wrote a piece. I helped her get it onto paper (although she did most of that herself), and then put it into Finale for her and printed it. We decided last week that it would be one of her fall recital pieces. In her lesson today, she edited the piece a bit and chose, on her own, where to add a couple of repeats. She also played for me another original composition she was working on. Composing scares me to death. I am grateful for the challenge she provides me to be creative and go outside the box! 

4th grade boy – He’s one of those who just talks and talks and doesn’t like to sit still. He jokes with me and gives me a hard time by sort of acting defiant (even though he’s the sweetest thing…) and asking “why?” when I have him do something. I joke back, and we have a good time. His family belongs to our church. He was baptized a few weeks ago. He wants to learn as much about music as he can to develop his talents to he can be a Christian musician when he grows up. He said (and I’m “borrowing” this from his mom’s facebook wall) “I want to be in a Christian band when I grow up. The two things I love most – God and music. How can you go wrong!” Wow…what more can I say! 

7th grade girl – She’s amazingly talented, both vocally and pianistically. She’s a great musician. She pushes herself so hard. Today, I had to tell her that she might need to relax and not be so hard on herself. I’m thankful for my life experiences (and having a similar personality…I know exactly how she thinks and feels!) to be able to relate to her and help her through a stressful couple of weeks. What a blessing to get to encourage young students! 

High school senior girl – She loves music. This is her 3rd year of piano. I think she seems to find refuge in music. She can express herself. It’s a personal thing for her. She doesn’t like performing for people. While I don’t necessarily “perform” for others always, sometimes I forget to play music for myself. She causes me to remember the fun in just playing things for fun! 

(If you made it this far, thanks for bearing with me. This became one of those paragraph after paragraph posts although I really had no intention of it being so!) 

So, in summary, today I’m thankful that God has allowed me to share my love and passion for music with others and to be able to teach them to enjoy it too. And, I’m thankful for having such a fabulous group of students who inspire me and teach me as well! 

What about you? 

The Very Merry Month of May

I know…its not May. I’m still catching up…

May was our crazy month. It just seemed like everything was happening all at once! Here’s my recap: 

(Warning: it’s not the abbreviated version)

In the first weekend of May, I had two piano recitals, a piano festival, two family birthdays, family dedication at church, and lots of family visiting. It was packed full of things, but oh so much fun! 

Mom and Dad came Friday afternoon. Paul & Valerie also came on Friday, and were able to bring Brian’s grandpa from California with them. This was the first time Grandpa was able to make it to Amarillo, and his first time to meet Noah. It was so great to see him! Friday night we celebrated Mom’s birthday (and had a belated celebration for mine!). We went out for dinner and had delicious homemade chocolate cake sent with Mom and Dad from Grandma. I had to do a few things for my recital but not too much. Mom and I practiced our duets for the recital. It’s such a dorky thing to say probably, but it’s so much fun to play piano duets with Mom! Eventually, we will do a duet recital together. We’ve been talking about it since I finished grad school, but it’s a lot of work and practice…that we just haven’t gotten around to doing! 

Saturday morning I had 3 students playing in a piano festival in Amarillo. So, I got up and went to the festival while everyone was getting ready to go to the recital. I had just enough time to make it home, practice with Mom, and grab my recital stuff before we went to pick up balloons for recital decorations. We quickly set up the worship center at the church, and soon students began to arrive. (It still just blows my mind that a year and a half ago, I had 4 students play in my first studio recital. In fact, it was at my house! This was my second spring recital, and I had 17 students play. I’ll have around 25 in the fall! Wow!) My students all did wonderfully, and I was so proud of them! I had my first graduating senior, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t hold back my tears. She took lessons for a year and a half. I can’t imagine what it will be like when my 1st and 2nd graders graduate! 

 My Studio

(As I sit here typing, I keep thinking there is probably something more productive that I should be doing at this moment…maybe like practicing piano music….but I can’t really think of much else, so I’ll continue on!)

After we cleaned up from the recital, we went out for a late lunch and just relaxed and played with Noah the rest of the day. Sunday was Mothers Day and also family dedication at church. I got up and went with Brian to play for the early service then came back home to finish getting Noah ready. Grandma and Da drove from Guymon for the service. It was a really nice time of dedication. We were presented with a book by our small group leader and a photo frame by one of the childcare workers who takes care of Noah in the nursery. And of course we didn’t have any photos taken….oops. After church we picked up lunch from Olive Garden and had lunch at the house. Mom and I went to a recital held by Amarillo Music Teachers Association that several of my students were playing in. Grandma and Da went back to Guymon, and Dad rode with them. The Baileys headed to the airport because Grandpa was flying back to California, and they left after dropping him off. Mom stayed overnight for a few doctor appointments on Monday, so Sunday evening we just relaxed, had dinner, and watched a movie. 

Meeting Grandpa Ted (Mothers Day)

The following week, we packed up and headed to Shawnee for Emily & Cody’s graduation. We left late Wednesday night after church and made it around 1:00 a.m., I think. We just stayed the night in Mom and Dad’s hotel room. Noah did well on the drive (slept most of the way) but had some trouble getting back to sleep in a strange crib at the hotel. Thursday was her nursing pinning ceremony which was so nice. My Aunt Judy, who now lives in Wichita, KS, was able to drive down for that. Grandma Dorothy and Brady, Grandma and Da, and Coy were also there. Thursday night we left Noah in the capable hands of Dad and Grandma Dorothy and headed to Oklahoma City to help move Emily and Cody’s things to their new apartment. Cody will be living there, and Emily will be staying with my Aunt Kathy until they are married. But, Emily was moving all of her stuff into the apartment. We were finished unloading and back in Shawnee maybe around 10 or 11 that night. Friday morning we helped Katey move things out of her apartment. Graduation was Friday afternoon. We went out for dinner with Cody’s family after graduation. Saturday morning Brian, Noah, and I drove to OKC to have breakfast at Big Truck Tacos. We decided to stay for a bit and help Emily and Cody unpack, so after breakfast, we met them at the apartment. We ended up staying longer than planned, but I enjoyed helping unpack and organize…2 of my favorite things! 🙂

My only photos from graduation weekend…the rest are on Mom’s camera

Relaxing with Da in the hotel

I finished my semester of lessons the following week. My cousin Megan and her husband Remington flew in from Austin to spend the weekend in Guymon. We picked them up from the airport and drove them to Guymon on Friday morning. It was a short weekend trip, but it was great to see everyone and spend the extra time with Megan and Remington. We headed home on Saturday evening. 

Hanging with Bop in Guymon

After 3 weekends of family visiting or traveling, we had a free weekend. (Although it was Brian’s Friday to work at the church, so it wasn’t as long as they usually are…but, he did have Monday off for Memorial Day). We decided to work in the yard some over the weekend. We bought and planted some little shrubs in our backyard and also planted some flowers. We raked and cleaned up the backyard some and pulled weeds in the front. We also went to the church to clean Brian’s office and hang his pictures. They recently got new desks and his office had been a mess since! With everything going on at church, he just had not had the time to work on rearranging things in his new desk and putting things back on the walls. (Everything was off the walls because when our new youth pastor started at the church, he took Brian’s office, and Brian moved into the old youth pastor’s office who moved into the former education minister’s office. I know…not confusing at all!). But, that was all done. I felt better about having projects done around the house, and he felt much better about having a clean office!