Hagerstown, MD

I'm going to try really hard to blog from each stop on my inaugural tour with TUSAFB. Last night we had our first official tour performance. It was a fun concert. Chris played "Pantomime" which was awesome!  So far the concerts are really fun. It is hard not to get distracted during the Armed Forces Medley because I like to look out and see all the people standing up. There are so many Navy & Army, and the Marines always look really proud and hardcore. The poor Coast Guard... there is usually at least one representative! 

Here is a picture from my seat in the band looking out. I think it is going to be interesting getting to play on so many different stages. It will be a new way of listening. I think I have been spoiled by the Murchison. 

After the concert we actually drove back home because the venue was only about an hour away. This morning I got up bright and early to go meet the tour buses for our big departure. I'm glad I left early because I got stuck downtown for half an hour because of the Baltimore Marathon. Some of the visual highlights were women dressed in purple with Maryland Crab Hats on, a man who was jumping rope, presumably for the entire 26 miles, and a man juggling the whole way.  

So now I'm on the tour bus and on the road for the next 35 days. Who knows what adventures are in store?

Packing

This week we had our final run-thrus of the four programs we perform on tour. Wednesday and Thursday we have off to conduct "tour prep." As you can imagine, there is lots of packing involved for a 36 day tour. We have a concert in Hagerstown, MD on Friday, then drive back home for the night. On Saturday the buses pull out for West Virginia and we are officially on the road! I'm pretty pumped. 

Check out these sweet "packing cubes" I got to organize my suitcase. Several people in the band recommended them and I think they will be a big help. You organize all your shirts in one, pants in another, etc. That way you don't have to re-pack every time we stop for the night and there is no digging through your suitcase to find something. 

We get to keep stuff on the bus at our seats. This tupperware container has all the yummy food I'm bringing so that I don't have to eat McDonalds for lunch every day. 

In other extremely exciting news, I went to a local bar with the really nice people that live above me in my rowhome. They are artists- two graphic designers and a painter. They have been living in Baltimore for a long time and know much more about city life that I do! Apparently I live around three blocks down from Charm City Cakes of "Ace of Cakes" fame on the Food Network. This is one of my favorite shows. It was really cool, you could look in the windows and see all of the awesome cakes. They are super expensive, but I've decided I'm going to order one for my 30th birthday party (in 6 yrs). I'm going to have a double quinceanera and go all out! 

I'm planning on updating my blog regularly while we are out on tour so that family and friends can keep up with my travels. Should be fun! 

Pumpkin

So I have this thing with Pumpkin. I love it. It is perhaps one of the best features of Fall. Love to eat anything containing it. Love to carve intricate designs into them & leave 'em out so long they rot and collapse into gaseous mounds & my neighbors complain. Luckily for my neighbors, one of the few downsides to my new job is that I will never be home for Halloween again for the duration of my career with TUSAFB.

I absolutely must try anything pumpkin flavored, and I thought I would share some of the items I have been indulging in lately. The latest hero of my morning coffee is this Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer that I picked up today. Also featured are Pumpkin Pie Spice Hershey Kisses, recommended by Scott. My research indicates that these can only be acquired at Target. The interesting looking stuff below is "Pumpkin Pie Fluff." I got this recipe from Scott's mom:

1 tub fat-free Cool Whip

1 can pumpkin

1 package sugar-free, fat-free instant Jello mix

1 cup milk (I use light Silk soymilk)

pumpkin pie spice to taste

You mix it all together and it is amazing. I didn't have the pie spice, and it's still delicious. A good not-too-bad-for-you Fall treat. Some recipes I have seen also have you add a package of butterscotch Jello mix, but I have never tried it that way. 

I've been waiting to find one of these benches unoccupied so I could snap a picture of it. The slogan "The Greatest City in America" is pretty funny to anybody who has ever actually been to Baltimore. As a matter of fact, it is the greatest place for me right now! 

Things I Miss

My Mom is in town visiting this weekend and she was asking me to list things that I miss about Texas. I thought this was an interesting exercise that I might post here. 

She is definitely one of them, as well as all my family! Lance (brother) will be training at Ft. Eustis in Virginia soon, so hopefully we can see each other more often then.  

I miss my boyfriend! But he is coming to visit in November!

I really miss my little Geordi LaForge. Look at that face!!

I miss not having to worry about driving in the right hand lane and suddenly coming upon a row of cars just parked there. 

I miss having friends who live ten minutes away. You could call them up any time, express your boredom, and have a duet partner, Wii opponent, dubious cooking tester, or just some company to enjoy. 

I miss being able to rent a huge house for half the cost of a small one here. 

I miss Taco Cabana, large parking lots, and SUPER WAL-MARTS! 

But, to be fair, here are some things I love about my new life here in Maryland- 

I love having a job. Not just any job, but THIS job. Which means that I never have to justify getting that third degree any more, now being in school means I'm just motivated instead of desperate, haha. 

I love walking around the city. 

I love the commissary, which is usually cheaper than Wal-Mart, and carries lots of unique items that I tend to like to cook with. 

I love living so close to national monuments and so many other cool things to see and do. 

Things are still settling in. Sometimes my whole life here still feels like I'm on vacation, that it's all just temporary. But I'm sure soon this will be home. I leave for my first big tour on October 10th and I'll have plenty of updates from that adventure.

First Gigs

This weekend was very exciting. I had my first two performances with the Field Band, and they were both really great. The first was in Saratoga Springs, New York.  I have never been to NY, apart from driving through on the Turnpike, so it was nice to see a different part of the country. Saratoga Springs reminded me a lot of Crested Butte, Colorado. Very vacation-esque, lots of shops, and overall just quaint. The concert was in a huge bandshell with an enormous and enthusiastic crowd. It was my first taste of a typical "Field Band" concert. We did this fantastic piece by Philip Sparke that was written for the band called "Weekend in New York." There were several other nice works on the program, and we did lots of things with the Soldier's Chorus. They are awesome, by the way. It is hard to count rests when you really want to listen to them! By the second half of the concert it was really cold! I'm not used to it being cold so early in the year, I had to buy a jacked just to cope! Our second half had lots of patriotic pieces. I have dreamed of being in a military band for so long- when I finally got to play the Armed Forces Salute for the first time as a member of the military it was such a cool moment. 

The next day we had a once in a lifetime performance opportunity. 

We were honored to play at the final game held at Yankee Stadium in New York City. You cannot imagine the crowd. So much history, so many enthusiastic fans. It was great energy and an awesome experience. These two pictures of the band marching were taken by Rob McIver, vocalist and photographer extraordinaire. 

Of course, I have a long history with military marching bands... as you can see :) 

Exploring New York City was an experience. 

Here is one of the many fascinating individuals who adds character to the city. 

Here I am in front of the empty stadium. Every seat was filled by the time we took the field! 

Other than enjoying having the best job on the planet, I have been getting settled nicely in my new place in Baltimore. Here is a cool little table I got from a guy in the band, set up against my cute brick accent wall.

This is the front of my townhouse apartment. It's very Cosby Show, haha. 

I've been taking long walks around the city in the afternoons trying to get to know the area. I never know what I will find. One day I ran into McGruff the crime dog... 

City Girl

Things have been crazy here! I have had tons of orientation stuff to do. Today I sat through hours upon hours of briefings on everything from how to use military healthcare to the civil war history of the area. But things are great, I just love my new job. I've had three rehearsals with the band so far, and it is just so fantastic. Everyone has been beyond nice, and it feels really good to be doing what I love again. I don't know if there was ever a person so excited to be playing Billy Joel medleys! 

My big news is that I finally found a place to live. For the past week I've been on a major search. 

Living in this area is so different from Texas. You have to pay way more money to get a much smaller place. I looked everywhere, but finally decided to go with a good deal that I found in Baltimore. I am living in the middle of the city, pretty close to Johns Hopkins University. It's going to be quite an adventure doing the whole city living thing, but I think that it will be fun and will serve me well until I can find a house that I want to buy. I'm posting a few pictures that I took when I went to view the place. I am moving in tomorrow and will post more soon!

This is the living room. It is much smaller than the house that I moved out of,  so I'm really glad I left my couches! I will have a futon, my recliner, and papasan chair in here. 

This is my kitchen. the living room is open to it, and the appliances are new and nice. Behind the kitchen is a little accent wall that is red brick. It's so cute and trendyish,

haha. 

This is my bathroom. This is like a luxury bathroom compared to some of 

the ones I looked at. Do you Denton people remember my bathroom at the Meadow Ridge house? Hahaha times have changed. :) 

This is the back of the apartment. There is a little yard, but without a fence, so I'm going have to walk little Geordi. The deck is nice though, will be good for sipping coffee and such, which its not freezing cold. 

So one thing I really missed during basic training was cooking. I found this awesome little cookbook on sale for $4.50 at Barnes & Noble and I can't wait to start making stuff. I have been looking forward to having my own little place and starting my life here and it being all nice and cozy and feel like I have a home again. I'll let you know how that goes. :) 

I Survived

On August 28th I graduated Army Basic Combat Training. It was quite an adventure. I cannot even begin to describe all of the crazy things that I did, and it definitely required me to step outside my comfort zone. When life got miserable two things really kept me going- the mail I got from family and friends, and reminding myself of what a great job was awaiting me at the end. 

Here I am at graduation waiting for the ceremony to start. We look like robots, I rock the sitting attention.

 Our three drill sergeants are about to march 4th platoon on to the stage. 

Here I am marching up to get an award. It is simply amazing how bad people are at marching. We march everywhere we go in Basic. It is crazy how bad people's rhythm is and how hard some people find it to stay on the right foot. I do not understand how you can be screaming "LEFT LEFT LEFT RIGHT" and be stepping "RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT LEFT," haha. 

 

This is my friend Wiley, who is from Baltimore, my new hometown. I'll have more pics of BCT friends up later when I get access to a scanner. 

So this tough part is done and now I am ready to jump headfirst into my awesome job! Updates soon!