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Christmastime is Here

Wow! It's been quite a while. Let's see what has happened since.....

Around 10th grade, I started to get involved with photography and ever since, it has been one of my biggest passions. At the beginning of the summer, I started my own photography business. I've been receiving great feedback and am starting to get the word out. Click here to visit the site.

At the end of the summer, two of my friends and I took a road trip out to Indianapolis for the Drum Corps International World Class Championships to see some friends perform. We left at 3am on a Friday and and stopped in Cleveland, OH for breakfast/lunch before spending the night with my friend's family. The next morning, we headed into Indianapolis and checked into our hotel. After getting lunch, we drove to the stadium to see the show. Ever since 9th grade, I had dreamed of going to a championship performance and it was everything I had expected.

This past semester was EXTREMELY busy. In addition to taking a TON of classes, I was involved with Marching Band, Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, Opera Pit, and a brass quintet that goes to elementary schools and teaches music. It was a lot to handle but I enjoyed every minute of it.

This year, we lost an incredibly generous man. George Parks was not only the UMass band director but one of my brothers in ΦMA. I had the pleasure of going to Ireland with him. He was a great man who is missed a ton.

This was an AWESOME semester for our chapter of ΦMA Sinfonia. We initiated 8 great men this semester. I love them dearly and I know they will do great things.

Probably the biggest event our chapter hosted was the Northeast Regional Fireside Conference. Putting it together was a TON of work and took months of planning but everything went well. Over 100 brothers came to UD for the weekend. It was so much fun learning more about the Fraternity and meeting brothers from other chapters. The weekend was put mainly put together by our President, Cameron Miller, and our Secretary, Liam McCartney.

I decided to pursue my dream of doing Drum Corps this year by auditioning for the Holy Name Cadets. The first camp I could go to was the December camp in New Jersey. It was everything I had expected and then some. It was full of vigorous workouts, marching, and playing. Click here for a video from camp.

UD's football team has been doing great this year! We started off the season with a 7-game winning streak and ended the regular season with a record of 9-2. Then, we entered the playoffs and are now headed to the National Championship game in Frisco, TX!!!

Finally, it's the most wonderful time of the year. My favorite holiday of the year, Christmas, is tomorrow. I love seeing all the lights and decorations throughout town. I've watched more than 20 Christmas movies already and listened to countless carols and I've done all my shopping. All that's left now is my family's Christmas Eve tradition. Every year, we go to the night church service with my other "family" (Friends who went to school with my dad), before driving around town and looking at lights before going back to their house to open some presents.

Happy Holidays and until next time,

Sláinte

I've waited 11 years for today

Tonight, a friend and I went to see Toy Story 3. I remember when the first movie came out, I was around Andy's age. It's awesome now because Andy goes to college and I just finished my first year. (Great year! Read the previous post)

I had been expecting this movie to be great, but it was FAR better than I had even dreamed! There were MANY times were I was on the edge of my seat. It was full of humor for kids AND adults. By far, my new favorite characters are Trixie, Ken, and Peas-in-a-Pod.

There's so much more to talk about, but I don't want to ruin the movie. I will say that if you sometimes cry during a movie, BRING TISSUES!

Until later, Sláinte!

And.... we're back

This past semester was one I will never forget. It had ups, and it had downs, but I had a blast through it all. Let's see....

Big events of 2010 (so far):

1. Biggest snow storm of the decade
2. ΣA Chapter of ΦMA Sinfonia chartered
3. St. Patty's Day
4. Somebody sprayed a fire extinguisher under my door, twice. :|
5. Music Major Weekend
6. MY BIRTHDAY!
7. ΦMA American Music Recital
8. ΦMA Big Band Concert with guest artist, Chris Vadala
9. Cinco de Mayo
10. MelUDees Spring Concert
11. I went to the library to study
12. ΞM Chapter sang the National Anthem at a Phillies' Game
13. Class Organ Recital (MUSC179-012 FTW!)
14. VACATION!!
15. Work :|

So, overall, I'd say that this is a great year so far!

Summer has been pretty good. Shortly after comin

g home, my family went to the beach for a week. Although my grandma had bought a new beach house, it was nice to at least be back to the beach during the summer. It was also a great opportunity to expand my photography portfolio.

The night that I got back from the beach, one of my best friends and I saw "Phantom" at the Fulton Theater in Lancaster. The show was ABSOLUTELY incredible!!!

Now that vacation is over, my jobs begin. I'm working up to 60 hours a week between Day Camp and Trio Bar & Grill. It makes my life extremely busy, but I'm making money doing what I enjoy. :) And finally, I couldn't end this post without mentioning Toy Story 3. I have been waiting 11 years for this movie to come out. I just bought my tickets for tomorrow night. I absolutely cannot wait. I will be sure to have a review in the next entry. Until then, Sláinte!

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere

Friday January 8, 2010

After sending my friend's cousin off to school, three of my friends and I caught the bus into New York City. First thing we did after checking into our hotel was go to St. Patrick's Cathedral, marking the second St. Patrick's Cathedral I had been to in a single week. After walking around inside, we saw the Rockefeller Center and walked to the Rockefeller Building, where we took the elevator all the way to the very top.

After we got back down to the street, we walked around for a while, with no set destination. On this walk, we decided to go into the NBC store, where we saw Zachary Levi, who plays Chuck Bartowski on NBC's "Chuck." We then proceeded to walk to Times Square. After a quick walk through Toys 'Я Us, we took a taxi down to Ground Zero. When we got there, we found a huge fence that blocked any view of the site. I then had the idea to try the Hilton across the street, where we found an excellent view from the restaurant on the third floor. Looking at it made it almost impossible to believe that there used to be two huge trade centers there. Before heading over to the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site, I met up with my friends, Liam and Kathleen, who both go to Delaware but were also in the city for the day.

Our next stop was the Brooklyn Bridge, followed by a walk to Chinatown. (yes, we did a lot of walking in NYC). After our walk through Chinatown, and eventually Little Italy, we decided to take the subway back to our hotel and rest before dinner. We ended up ordering delivery and didn't go back out into the city until pretty late.

Saturday January 9, 2010

All of the walking the previous day had tired us all out quite a bit. Nevertheless, our day was not about to be hindered by this.

After breakfast, we took the subway to 57th street and walked to Central Park. I ended up walking the entire length of the park, then the entire width, and back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an indirect path about five miles long.

All there was to do now, was eat lunch, drop my friend off at Grand Central Station to take the train to school, and head home. Overall, I'd say this was my favorite trip to New York ever.

IRELAND!

Day 1

December 26, 2009

I woke up, still tired from Christmas, and started packing right away. The only thing between me and Ireland was a drive to the airport, followed by a plane ride over the Atlantic. Arriving at the airport was great! I checked in and went through security without any issues. It felt great to see a bunch of my friends from school waiting at the gate.

Day 2

I'm in IRELAND!!! The plane ride was good. We exited the airport to find the Irish sunrise in the sky. It was a great welcome to a great country. It was quiet at the hotel since we were the

first group there, but when the second group arrived, some of us went to lunch together. After lunch, I took a nap, and woke up to find that everyone else had arrived!

Later that night, we had our first full rehearsal with the UMass band. It was AMAZING, playing in a band of over 500 members. After rehearsal, I went into town with some friends to

experience a real Irish pub for the first time.

Day 3

Today, I woke up really early. After breakfast, we took a tour of the Burren District, the area south of Galway City. Our first stop was at some cliffs, where we got to walk a

round for a little. I thought these cliffs were huge. Then we went to the Cliffs of Moher. The highest point there was 214 meters, which is about 700 feet high. There was also a small castle that you could climb up.

After we got back to our hotel, everybody went to dinner in the 'Latin Quarter' of Galway. After dinner, we met up with some friends at some pubs which included The Front Door, The Quay's (pronounced 'keys'), and The King's Head.

Day 4

Today was our first parade day. It was a terrible parade (only because it was cold, windy, and raining). Other than the weather, the parade actually wasn't too bad. After the parade, I went back to the hotel to change into dry clothes before some of us went to lunch. We ended up eating at The Skeff Bar, where we stayed until around 4:30. After lunch, we decided to go boot shopping so Ali could get into some dry shoes. We ended up at a T•K•MAXX (you heard me right).

Dinner that night was at a place called Monroe's. They decided to put the entire tour group into one restaurant and have one line for food. It was fun for a while since there was Irish dancing, however, it was really crowded. Our usual little group of friends decided to leave and go to a smaller less crowded pub. First, we went to a place called The Cellar, but when they closed, we went to Bar 903, where we ran into some girls from the Delaware color guard.

Day 5

Today was a very rainy day. The majority of today was spent on the bus, driving through the country and mountains. My group went to the Kylemore Abbey, the oldest of the Irish Benedictine Abbeys and home to a community of nuns since 1920.

Day 6

NEW YEAR'S EVE

Today we left Galway and headed to Dublin. We made a stop at Clonmacnoise, the historic site of an ancient Monastery and University, dating from the 5th century.

Later that night, they had a New Year's Eve party for both UDel and UMass at our hotel. It was absolutely the BEST New Year's Eve ever.

Day 7

JANUARY 1, 2010

Parade day #2.

This parade was a lot nicer than the previous one. There were three bands and it was sunny out. After the parade, we changed on the buses and went out for a late lunch. That night, the Delaware Phi Mu Alpha brothers walked over to the UMass hotel to hang out with the colonists.

Day 8

Today, we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trinity College, and the Guinness Storehouse. Our first stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. After that, we went to Trinity College where we saw the Book of Kells.

Our last stop was the Guinness Storehouse. The inside of the building was shaped like a giant pint glass. We took a tour and when we got to the top, we were given a complimentary pint of Guinness to enjoy as we looked over the city, and surrounding mountains, of Dublin from the Gravity Bar.

Later that night, we went to dinner in Temple Bar, an area in Dublin where most of the pubs are located. At dinner, I had my first authentic Bangers & Mash. After dinner, we went to a couple different pubs, including one that had an Irish band that played a Celtic version of MJ's "Man in the Mirror."

Day 9

Last day in Ireland

Our day started with a trip to Phoenix Park, where we saw the President's House, the US Ambassador's House, and the site where 3 million people showed up to see the Pope speak.

After that, the rest of the day was our day to finish any shopping and sight seeing.

Day 10

Goodbye Ireland. Hello USA.

Last night, I stayed up all night with some of my friends since we had to be up early and it would be the last time we saw each other until February. We left the hotel around 5:00 am. When we got to the airport, we found out that there was a 6 hour delay and that we would be spending 10 hours of our day there. Nevertheless, the ride home was great. And now I'm back in my own bed at home, although I miss everyone already.

A Day Full of Surprises

This morning, I woke up early to go into my high school with Michael and Hilary, two friends from high school that go to UD with me, to sing Calc Carols with the AP Calculus classes. We surprised all of our teachers and a lot of friends.

After reuniting with everybody, I met my parents at my dad's office. I had no clue what was going to happen. The only thing they told me was to show up at 3:15pm and dressed nicely.

When I got there, I found out that my parents were taking me and my cousin to Philadelphia to see the Nutcracker performed by the Pennsylvania Ballet at the Academy of Music.

We took the train straight from Lancaster to Philadelphia and when we got there, we ate dinner at a cool little Irish pub (which got me into the mood for Saturday). After dinner, we walked over to the show and when we got there, my cousin and I went downstairs and followed a hallway back to the Orchestra door. It was VERY tempting but I held back and didn't go into the pit.

The show was absolutely incredible. I've seen it almost every year for as long as I can remember, and it still hasn't gotten old. After we left, we wanted to see the light show at Macy's and get coffee from Saxby's at the train station. Unfortunately, the light shows were done for the night AND Saxby's was closed. This usually would have been a complete bummer, BUT the night (and day) as a whole was absolutely AMAZING! (and I got an iced latte from Dunkin Donuts to compensate for my lack of Saxby's)

Well, that's it for now.

Merry Christmas Eve!