New Blog, Help!, and California

So here it is... my first blog post. I'm a little intimidated right now seeming as my sister Carolyn is an expert blogger. The "Help!" in the title of this post is for her to help me out haha.

I've recently arrived in California to begin a new chapter of my life! I'm going back to school at USC in the fall to start a master's degree in Keyboard Collaborative Arts. For those of you who are thinking, "Didn't she just finish a master's degree?," the answer is yes, I graduated in July of 2007 from The University of Oklahoma with a master's in Solo Piano Performance. I slightly changed career focus and now I'm looking forward to collaborating with other musicians and exploring a whole new repertoire.

For the time being I'm staying out in Santa Monica with my friend (future roommate) Sara at her friend's apartment; he's currently out of town teaching acting seminars. His apartment is AMAZING! Living only four blocks from a beautiful California beach is more than anyone could ask for. I'll never be able to afford it so I'm livin' it up while I can!

I just got into California a few days ago with my brother, Clay. We took a really fun road trip from Oklahoma and didn't take a true stop until Las Vegas (Well we stopped at Hoover Dam, which was really cool). Clay stayed up all night playing poker and we both had a great night! When we got into California we hit up four different beaches in five days: Venice Beach, Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach, and finally, Santa Monica. Clay went home yesterday and I already miss him so much. He's a great guy to have around and I wish he could be here all the time. :(

Anyways, here are a few pictures from the trip with Clay and I'll try to keep everyone posted on what's goin' on here in California.



This is Clay swimming at Huntington Beach. He was really brave and went really far out to the big waves to dive under. I didn't quite get out that far!



Here's a couple pics from our night in Vegas. The one of me is in front of the Bellagio (even though that's Caesar's Palace in the background). Clay and I caught the water show twice while on that part of the strip, which was cool, it was my second time on the strip, Clay's first!



These last couple are from Hoover Dam.

Anyways, hope this post doesn't look too primitive. I'll work on my blogging skills! (Carolyn and Sara's help is appreciated!!)