R&R (and berrypicking)

This week I'm up in Eagle River, Alaska (near Anchorage), visiting my good friend Kathryn for ten days as she prepares for her upcoming wedding. I wanted to come to the wedding in any case, and we decided that if I had the time it would be great to extend my visit so that the two of us could really spend some time together and catch up. So I've been relaxing and hanging out with her here, accompanying her on all the random tasks that precede a wedding and ensuing move to Washington D.C., as well as just being a general help around the house as her family prepares for out of town guests and the Big Day. I've gotten to do a lot of cooking and bread-baking, which I really like, and tons of berry picking and jam-making. Gooseberries, currants, red and yellow raspberries....I love it. I get to bring some of my own homemade jam back with me.

As far as my *cough* professional life is concerned, I am still looking for my next cruise job. i would really like to work for a few months this fall, from mid September until Christmas, and am still waiting for that call. The good news is that I re-auditioned last week for my agency and have sent in the audition dvd - now is just a waiting game. Re-auditioning has put me in the race for some jobs on higher-end cruise lines, something I am really interested in and very excited about. So once my audition is received and viewed I will be hopefully considered for those jobs, possibly more full-time and better paid. Now I do my best not to obsessively check my email several times a day hoping for an email offering me a job. :-) But I feel very good about the audition, and am hopeful I will be hearing from them soon. So for now, I'm just relaxing and enjoying Alaska. :-)

In other news, I am now 25 years old. Also known as my mid-twenties, also known as downhill to 30, also known as halfway to 50.

Back home

Tour ended about a week ago after having our final concert in Hemet, CA.  My exhausted mind and body were so thankful. :-)  It was a great time of being stretched and learning what it takes to be a leader.  After surviving this experience I find myself more willing to consider other leadership opportunities, as well as teaching opportunities, which never appealed to me before.  "God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called," as I read on one particular music minister's office wall this summer.  Am I being called to music ministry leadership? Am I being called to teaching? Only time and prayer will tell, but now I know that in those situations I can rely on Him for strength, and through Him I can accomplish all things, if I am in His will.  

Nearing the end

We finally had a couple of nights off this week, which all of us really needed. Last night we performed in Chandler, Arizona, and we are working our way back to California with only a couple of concerts left. We spent a couple of days in Seminole, Texas, which is a town made up almost exclusively of German Amish who emmigrated from settlements in Mexico. Over the generations the Amish influence has decreased a lot, but many families still hold onto some traditions. It was a really interesting place to perform, stay, and be welcomed by.

I don't know exactly what I'm up to after tour, but I am waiting to see if there are any cruise ship jobs just for short term or fill-in. I actually just got an offer to join a ship in Stockholm and stay on board for three weeks, but unfortunately they need me Friday, and I'll still be on tour. Hopefully something else comes up in September! After tour it looks like one of my friends from tour will be staying with me for a couple days, and then I'm planning to spend a week and a half in Alaska with my friend Kathryn as she is getting married. So that's the plan! If anyone would like to hear my group perform you can get details by calling the continentals - we are performing Sunday morning in services in Chino, then a full, final concert Sunday night in Hemet. I'd love to see you!