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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Casualties through our move

Our tailpipe (no picture)

Our Air Conditioning. (no picture)


For some reason oil spiled onto several of our boxes. Gross. 

Apparently the tape was not sturdy enough for this box. Thankfully all that was in it was clothes. 

A terribly smashed box. 

My dear piano lost its leg. 

The lid to my jar of cookie cutters. 


And my dear beloved cake plate. 

It is very sad. Se la vie. 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Our new LDS ward

Our couple Sunday's in the Atlanta ward were awesome. I'll be frank just so you can have a picture in your head, but just know I love them and will learn so much from them. Our ward is essentially all black. Everyone who is not black is most likely a student plus wife and possibly a baby. I counted about 10 or so couples in our boat. Those that are black seem to come from difficult backgrounds. Keep in mind that we are in an inner city ward. It seems that there are a lot of women who come to church whose husbands either aren't active or aren't there for one reason or the next. These women are usually around 50-60 and often have children of their own. Our bishopric is black as well as our stake president. There was one man, who apparently is very faithful who wore jeans and cowboy boots and a paisley vest and a black dress jacket to church who has LONG bushy white hair and a LONG bushy beard. It just makes me want to know his story. I want to know everyone's story! Who are they? Why did they join the church? What makes them stay? Wow. 



You know how in Hawaii they say Aloha! and people respond with the same? Well, here it is the same except people say Good Morning! and you repeat back the same. Our church building is right across the street from railroad tracks and the chapel doubles as the basketball court. They don't have benches, but only chairs. 

Across the street from our building. 


Practically no one sings parts, so personally it was rather nice when I could harmonize easily with Alto with David on Tenor. We joined ward choir because we figured they needed us and it would be fun. And, Surprise, they asked if I could play the piano. BUT word got out that I have a master's in flute performance. And so, naturally, I can do anything and everything that has to do with music. (I'm being sarcastic) All in one Sunday: 
  • I'm playing in Sacrament meeting in August.
  • Conveniently there are 2 other flutists in the ward. One wants to play in sacrament meeting with the choir. His only exposure to the flute was 1 semester during 160R at BYU. I don't know the level of the other flutist. And so they want me to arrange a song for choir and three flutes. Looks like I'll be reviewing my music theory text book. 
  • They asked me if I could teach a boy in our ward (who is 7 or so) how to compose. He has been taking piano lessons, but wants to learn how to compose. If this does end up happening, how hard could it be? I know the very basics of composition and since he is so young he is bound to learn slow....
  • Some one suggested I apply to be the local preschool music teacher. 
And not one prospect of a flute student. 

We have a pianist in the ward who is over zealous with her tempos. Either that, or that is how they sing hymns down south. If you want me to give you a lecture on the authenticity of performances (of any sort) I could! I took a class specifically on this subject and we throughly discussed this particular subject. Yes, I was graded on it and it was more complicated then it seems....just incase you were wondering... Just for example, get out your trusty metronome and play or sing Our Savior's Love to 144-152 =quarter note. NO JOKE. And I like joyful hymns. I wonder what the speed will be for hymns like "The spirit of God" "Have I done any good" or "Who's on the Lord's side, who?" Additionally, people sang like old Southern Baptists (at least as how I imagined them) sang. Soaring sopranos with exaggerated vibrato. 

Please don't get me wrong. I love this. I am not judging, but I am just thankful I can use the gifts that God has given me. 


I know that the Lord loves the people of this ward. I can feel how special they are to him. It doesn't make one lick of difference if they come to church in pants, or even in jeans (this is not uncommon). And it doesn't make a difference when several women come to church in sleeveless shirts. He loves them and he blesses them for their faith. I am so excited to be a part of this ward--to learn and to grow with them. 

Thursday, July 21, 2011

And the chaos begins.

Remember that prestine and free of clutter apartment...well, look what it was a week ago. Slowly but surely I'm unpacking while David is at Work/School. Stay tuned for "after" photos. It might be a month.

Such ominous stacks.


Oh how I wish my mom could be here to help. 

And look who showed up to welcome us to our new home:
Is it a cockroach or just a really large beetle? At any rate, it was stuck on its back and really easy to catch. Naturally I made David do the dirty work. 

Monday, July 18, 2011

Our new home

FYI. Our apartment doesn't have internet...yet...and probably won't until August... Just incase if you want to contact me. But hopefully I can get a bunch of posts up and scheduled. :)

On to our topic: I really like Atlanta. I don't know if I could call it love yet becuase it still feels foreign and complex, but I already know that our apartment will be a wonderful HOME, not just house. There are a lot of things I love about it, but also dislike completely. Doesn't it look cozy?

 View from the front door. To the right is the living room. Straight ahead is the door leading to the patio. 

Look to the right and you will see the laundry room/ planning desk. 

The lovely washer/dryer

The living room as viewed from the "dining room"
View from the hall way into the kitchen. Straight ahead is the "dining room"

The left side of the kitchen. 

The right side of the kitchen. 


The Royal Bathroom


The clean shower and wash basin

View of our bedroom from the other wall


View of the small, but WALK IN closet. 


View of the door leading to the patio. 


View from the patio on the left. Notice the street. 

View from our patio on the right. 

Looking up. 

I hope you enjoyed your tour!

Rachel Reece
Atlanta Edition

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Vacation?

Darn! I wish I had my camera. Nevertheless, for all you out there who want a glimpse of my life, you will get it...as soon as my cord is unpacked.

Being in Atlanta is surreal. Right now it almost feels like we are on vacation and will soon go back to Provo. We're staying in my Aunt and Uncle's house (well, great aunt and uncle...but they are about my parents age...) They are so kind to us. Good old fashioned Southern Hospitality. As David and I explored around Atlanta, they were our tour guides. They told us where to eat and not to eat; where the Governor's mansion is; where famous basketball and baseball players houses are; where the biggest and grandest houses are in town (think houses the size of the White House); they showed and told about farmer's markets and shopping centers; and they helped us navigate our way around town.

There is so much to be excited about! And I am excited, but it just doesn't feel real yet. Will it ever? Farmer's markets, different people to learn from, big houses, the city life, and awesome food, is enticing, but I will be grateful when it finally hits me that those are MINE, not cool things that are borrowed.

With out them I would feel so lost and so alone. We already have such great friends because of them. I feel a bit more familiar with the crazy Atlanta streets, but I am sure it will be years before I solidly know my way around town. Moving away has been hard. I will randomly acquire a few tears in my eyes thinking about home. One time was as I was petting their cat and another was during Sacrament meeting singing "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord." I wonder when it will sink in that this is not a vacation. I wonder when it will begin to feel like home.

At the moment we don't know when our truck will arrive with all our booty. It could be tomorrow or it could be Thursday. I will feel so much more relieved once everything is safe and snuggled securely in our apartment--not even unpacked--but there.

So as of now we are keeping busy picking blueberries (we picked 5 gallons on Saturday!) and figuring out everything that has to do with Atlanta.

I'll share more about our new ward in another post as well as pictures (hopefully soon) of our surroundings. Until then,

Rachel Reece,
Atlanta Edition

Thursday, July 7, 2011

2/3 there

Sorry, no pictures this post. My camera cord is packed and en route to Atlanta.

If I could predict the future, I could say with relative certainty that this will be one of those stories you share with your kids about the joys of young married life. My parents had them: Bathroom ceiling caving in on them (wait...that just happened to us too) living in a scary apartment with bullet holes, living on a student income for 8 years, that sort of stuff.

Well, its happened. It's our turn. Driving from Clovis, NM to Atlanta with no air conditioning. Not to mention but our exhaust pipe corroded and fell off and we have to get a new muffler... sigh. It's all part of the adventure, right? Hopefully nothing is wrong when we get to Atlanta... At least we still have a car that works, right? That can get us there?

Here's to adventures.