Quit school. Buy a chihuahua.

When I tell people I want to be a music therapist I get one of 3 reactions. 1) What's that? This is the most common, and my main goal is not to make people sorry they asked because I could go on for weeks. 2)Music therapy is so amazing! I love this reaction and I always ask how they came to this conclusion. 3) (here's the fun part!) Like pet therapy! I've given it some thought and decided since having people pet a cute little dog has all the same healing properties as music I should stop spending all this money and time to become a highly trained perfessional.

Wait...come to think of it my dream of working in a mental health facility wouldn't go so well with pet therapy. One, my little dog would be in danger from violent clients in an inpatient facility. With pet therapy there is very little cognative stimulation and mood alteration. Any cheering up that might take place ends once the dog is gone. Though it might make people a little less uncomfortable, it does nothing to get them out of there.

I could always take my puppy and help out in neonatal intensive care unit. Wouldn't it be so cool to help babies who don't know how learn to breath and regulate their own body temperature? Even better, I could teach mothers to bond with their children. The most tender and rewarding part on NICU is helping parents remember the babies that don't live. Recordings and memories become more precious than gold. Where does the dog come in? I'm not sure, but I'll let you know when I figure it out.

I could make a world better that has always been difficult for me. Anesthisia! I could help people relax before surgery with a carefully prepared mix of their favorite songs calculated to relax and lower heart rate and resperation rate. I could also help people wake up with music that is both comfortable and stimulating. I could reduce the need for drugs by using a natural tool and therefore minimize the risk of any side effects. To bad nothing with dander would be alowed in pre or post op.

I could work in oncology! The truth is there is a great deal of pet therapy in that arena. It can help with making the hospital envioronment more healing. The pet therapy also allows for socialization. It would be nice if there were a therapy that could teach the kids what they are missing in school and gives the adults a medium to express themselves. What if there was a therapy with proven evidence to help with the pain during and after bone marrow transplants. Music might help, especially according to the American Music Therapy Association. Maybe they need both.

I could work with developmentally disabled and autistic children. Even though a dog couldn't teach scoial or academic skills it might be able to put the children in the moment. Some of them. It can't however give them control over their environment the way improvisation can, and with an excited little puppy, there wouldn't be very much structure either. Music can reach out and alter brain chemistry and also allow for more positive behavioal control experiences. Music also gives nonverbal people a medium of communication.

What about plaliative care (hospice)? A dog could give some people in that situation something to love. Maybe give peole a chance to reminice about their lives? Or help the patient and the family go through the greiving process and give all involved a chance to create of beauty and meaning? Good thing puppies hold still and listen to sick people.

How about nursing home? Pet therapy is used there. It gives the people in the nursing home something to look forward to. I wonder if dogs help with mobility. Can you combine pet therapy with motion for the patient and teach them how to walk again? How about memory, can they provide short term and working memory stimulation? And while I'm at it, I can use my dog to provide the residents with communication skills. I just don't know how.

Now I don't want anyone to misundersand me. I like pet therapy and if I were in the hospital or a nursing home I would want it. Contact with another living being and physical contact have strong healing properties. I hope there is an increase in the use of pet therapy in the near future. I'm just sayin' that music therapy is not just a helping hand, it is a medical treatment for all populations. The practicioners study and intern with all the population and most of them have minors in psychology or physiology. They have to certify on four different instruments and take a class and a practicum on all populations. I think pet therapy is wonderful, but I think that the uses of music therapy are different and far more diverse. I chose my field so I can help people in all these populations, and possibly more.

One Song

Hi there friends and family. I appreciate all who take the time to read this.



Okay so this post is going to be comtemplative then the last one, but I've been good at keeping it light, so indulge me. I have an assignment for intro to music therapy that is one of the hardest I've had in that class. I have to pick a song that is meaningful to me, have the class hear it, and explain why it is meaningful. How do I pick just one?

• There's Never by Jenny Jordan Frogley, and then there's


• Hold On the Light Will Come by Micheal Mclean. Both of these are religious, but I think in the conversation we will be having could be appropriate (honestly, how many people are going to pick the hokey pokey as their meaningful piece?) I might go with something more common like the


• Circle of Life from the Lion King or


• Hold On from the Secret Garden. I could even go instrumental and use the


• Handel Cassedeus in b minor second movement or the


• JC Bach in c minor third movement. Both are really meaningful to me and have helped me through rough moments. When I think about special performances I think of


• Domine Adajuvadjume.


• Finally there is "One Loaf of Bread" that was written in memory of my Grandma Christensen or "I Believe in Christ" which is the song that lets me feel connected to her. Any votes should be posted in replies. I can't find the songs to post, sorry.

Seriously, how do you pick one song that means the most to you.? I could pick the first one I ever performed. Unfortunately the major is Mormon heavy, so the teacher knows Popcorn Popping very well.

What is it about music that is so trancendent? People say it is a universal language, but that is only true in a limited sense. Music from accoss cultures does not translate very well, but music we understand can be life changing. I think it is because creating anything requires body and spirit. We create with our souls, so the experience always goes beyond the body. But then why does listening to it mean so much? I guess because we listen so rarely. Think about it, when was the last time you listened with your whole soul? And music touches brain on so many different frequencies and the heart in so many different ways. In all my darkest moments it was listening to music that got me through (and playing, but I have a larger listening than playing repetoire.)

Never (the first one on the list) was the Savior speaking directly to me. If I sing One Loaf of Bread I would bring bread for the class. That's too much work. The main reason I am leaning towards "Hold On, thhe Light Will Come" by Micheal McLean is the way I feel connected to him when I listen to it. I have never met Brother McLean, but if I ever do, I will already feel comfortable because of what I learned from that song. Only someone who has truly coped with depression could write that.

I think the class period is going to be about what makes music meaningful. I've dedicated my life to it because every time I feel strings underneath my fingers it feels like coming home. When I sing I know that many beyond the veil are listening. I have been passionate about the study of technique since high school because I wanted to learn all there was to know about it (still working on that one.) I feel like the luckiest person ever to be surrounded with music every day. I could not get by without it. I don't think anyone could.

A lot of nothing

Hi all!

I love keeping in touch with everyone and getting comments make my week (hint hint) but I'm not always sure what to write that may be of interest. I promised myself that this blog won't get too serious. I used the space to philosiphize last week, so this week I will keep it a little more timeline oriented. The second week of shchool went well. I'm enjoying my classes. I have this one called music in recreation and we have fun all period. This last time we had to lead the class in a movement activity. 5 of us used songs out of the children's songbook and another girl did a girls cam song. As there is only one male in the entire classroom, I thought it was appropriate.



I'm also learining to play the guitar. I can strum and I can play 2 chords. I feel good about me! To those of you who have never tried it, I must say the down up up strum pattern is harder than you think, or at least than I think. I can sing and play a little guitar. I feel like a music genius! Now if only I could play the recorder too I might pass the class.



All my other classes arew more of the pencil and paper veriety, but I guess learning is always good (see RS message for August.) Life is going pretty well right now.



My one serious note (I promise) is what makes September contemplative for me. My Grandma Christensen died September 22 2003. I can't believe it has already been 6 years. I feel closer to her now then I did before she passed away. In mortality all her time was dedicated to reaching out to others and bringing them to Christ, especially her family. I can't imagine she is doing anything different now. My Grandma Terry died the saturday of Labor Day weekend last year. Again, it is hard to believe it has been a year. I found a recording of our last conversation with her recently. She was (and is) an amazingly smart woman. Smart and funny with her head screwed on straight.

Motto for school

I have been overwhelmed all week long. Kudos and gratitude to my beautiful roommate Katie because I wouldn't have been able to pull through as well if she were not there listening, encouraging, and just being her wonderful self. I decided what I need for this year is a good attitude, and I think I found it. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and press play so you can hear how cool it is.

David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand

He was only a boy

But he knew someone must take a stand

There will always be a valley

Always mountains one must scale

There will always be perilous waters

Which someone must sail

Into valleys, into waters

Into jungles, into hell

Let us ride, let us ride home again with a story to tell

Into darkness, into danger

Into storms that rip the night

Don't give in, don't give up

But give thanks for the glorious fight

You can tremble, you can fear it

But keep your fighting spirit alive boys

Let the shiver of it sting you

Fling into battle, spring to your feet boys

Never hold back your step for a moment

Never doubt that your courage will grow

Hold your head even higher and into the fire we go

.

Are there mountains that surround us?

Are there walls that block the way?

Knock 'em down, strip 'em back boys

And forward and into the fray

Into terror, into valour

Charge ahead, no, never turn

Yes, it's into the fire we fly

And the devil will burn

.

Someone has to face the valley

Rush in, we have to rally and win boys

When the world is saying not to

By God, you know you've got to march on, boys

Never hold back your step for a moment

Never doubt that your courage will grow

Hold your head ever higher and into the fire we go

.

Let the lightning strike

Let the flash of it shock you

Choke your fears away

Pull as tight as a wire

Let the fever strike

Let the force of it rock you

We will have our day, sailing into the fire

.

Someone has to face the valley

Rush in! We have to rally and win boys

When the world is saying not to

By God, you know you've got to march on, boys

Never hold back your step for a moment

Look alive! Oh, your courage will grow

Yes, it's higher and higher and into the fire we go

Into fire!

Onward, ho!

.

Since the phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fire" discribes my life this semester, I thought this song appropriate. (For those interested it is from the musical "The Scarlet Pimpernel" when he is forming his league. Track 6)

School Days!

For me tomorrow is the big day, as I'm sure it is with many of you. I have butterflies, as always. I hated shoping for clothes in Utah, but it feels so good and right to start a brand new year with a brand new outfit. For most of the world you get new clothes because it is the begining of fall. Unless fall meand "over 110 degrees" that is not the case in Phoenix. For me it symbolizes a new begining.

There's just something about studying things you have never learned before. I won't lie, I'm more excited about some classes than others, but starting a new class is always exciting for me. I broke the bank yesterday when I bought my textbooks, but then I did what I always do with new (and new to me) textbooks. I read the table of contents to see what exactly I was supposed to learn in that class. I must have studied the scientific method a couple dozen times now. Somehow that makes it into every textbook for me, and sometimes I can't even figure out what the experiment is! But it is always comforting when I buy a book to know it will make me smarter.

In college starting a new year has a couple more levels for me. Yesterday was my first day living with my roommate Katy. We spent the day putting up pictures of the Savior and our families plus the miscillanious trinkets we collected. I love being able to take a little apartment and make it a home. Katy and I knew each other last semester, but I was still shocked to see how much we have in common. We love the same authors and shows. She is a psychology major and an amatuer musician and I am a music major with a psychology minor. It felt so good to begin filling our new home with beautiful art, music, words, actions, and love. I'm sure over time there will be days that tempers are shorter, but for now everything here really is perfect. We are not finished setting up and when we are I promise to post pictures. Another roommate, Taryn, will be moving in soon and we just can't wait to have her.

Today Katy and I went to church together. It felt so good to go to church with someone again. While we were there we got to meet a whole bunch of new freshmen. I loved seeing their nervous little faces and imagining how wonderful college can be for them.

New knowlege, new home, new family, new friends, new beginnings all around. I guess this is my new year. It is nerve reacking because every school year since I moved away from home forced me to grow in ways I never imagined. As a result I am mindful of and greatful for blessings I never before recognized or needed. When I first moved away from home one of the most educated people I know, my aunt, emailed me and said that I would learn more about my self and my Savior than I realized there was to learn. That proved to be prophetic. I don't want to take the time now to write out all the major life lessons I learned in college, but the list is substantial and I hope I will sometime.

Fall 2009 here I come...Wish me luck!

The Ride

So sometimes I feel like a complete dork because I want a roommate. Yes, it is cheaper, but I want to share a room because I like it. I had a roommate that snored, (very softly, never obnoxious) and when I woke up in the middle of the night I would hear her and then I knew everything was fine and I could sleep safely.

Yesterday my family and I went from Tucson to Salt Lake. I must admit that my knee and I were not getting along so well. 13 hours in a car will do that to you, especially if you and your knee are not exactly on friendly terms to begin with. But after being completely by myself in an empty apartment all day every day it was wonderful to be so close (in every way) with my family.

Usually we take the van, but it is not in tip top shape at the moment, so we took the car. I always take the very back seat of the van but then I can't really hear anything my parents say in the front. One year Trev and I pooled our money and bought an inverter, so we could plug stuff in and use it in the car. Trevor plays games the whole time and watches movies and since I can't see the tv and don't like games I just listen to my music. My dad and I like a lot of similar music, but we sit so far apart that it doesn't matter. In the car we could all talk to each other and spend time together for real.

Trevor and I shared the back seat. I remember when I was younger I used to come up with all these ways to avoid my brother for the whole trip. I wonder what changed/ I loved sitting next to him for the 14 hours. We watched 1 1/2 movies together (until all bateries died) and talked and slept and we didn't get in even one disagreement. It's really nice to have a snugglebug for a brother. Whenever Trev and I are sitting together, no matter what we are doing, he will put his arm around me. Trevor and I are also to the point that we can coverse with each other and enjoy it. He is pretty smart and very funny. He also doesn't have anything mean to say about other people. He is in to marine biology, Shakspeare (bet a lot of you didn't see that one coming!) and musical theatre.

Every time I tell people about the drive to Utah I get looks of sympathy. Soome of them are deserved because this trip is physically uncomfortable for a few different parts of my anatomy, but I look forward to the drive. True I don't do any driving, but I look forward to the togetherness and the sightseeing. I also look forward to getting out of the car.

Sunday Morning

Okay so I promised myself that I wouldn't philosiphize in this blog too often, but today I just want to compare and contrast the Sunday monrnings I have experienced and why I like them.

1) The Fam! Breakfast is done and Mom and Dad are putting the finishing touches on thier lessons and Trevor is "encouraging" us very brusquely to get out the door. Then I get to church 30 minutes early and enjoy the time visiting with people I've known and loved for years.

2) Guac house Sundae! I get up and showered before the rush starts, then one by one my roommates stumble out of bed and into the shower. Then they begin these elaborate beautification rituals. As I have only meager skill in the makeup applying and hair perfecting scene I finnish mine within 5 or 10 minutes and observe them and the time. Then we (sometimes) all walk to church in a line and sit together in Relief Society. We cut it close, but we made it to all 3 meetings. When we got home we would often make a Sunday breakfast with eggs, pancakes, bacon, juice, and other such things. The whole day we would have soft music playing to keep the Spirit in our hearts and minds.

3) ASU dorms. I would get ready and tiptoe out to the front room to grab a quick something to eat. My roommates were usually still passed out from drinking or drugs. I would walk the short quarter mile to church, then walk in and get the overwhelming sense of security that comes from being among friends and fellow Saints. I would linger as long as I could and avoid leaving any way I could. Eventually I would return home where I would proceed to make a Sunday dinner for Danica and myself.

4) My own apartment. Now I live completely by myself. I get up and turn the Sunday music on full blast. I warm up my voice and shower and ready myelf for entering the Lords' house (and all the cute boys I might find there.) I make myself a decent breakfast of eggs and toast and run out the door. I usually get their 5 minutes early and enjoy the spirit of being with others for about 15-30 minutes after the meeting, then come home and take a nap.

I have not gotten to be the mom on sunday morning, but I was thinking today how that would be a whole other category. I like my Sunday mornings. Sometimes they are quiet and sometimes they are not. Sometimes they are restful and sometimes they are not. I think I usually end up at church ready to be edified. They are always an experience apart from the rest of the week for me and a Heaven sent blessing.