Oh, I see...I was MADE this way!! :)

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately in my search for bettering myself, my parenting, and my marriage. In my search, I have looked up a lot of information online and talked with lots of family and friends. I took a few personality tests and wanted to document what I have confirmed about myself. This helps me not only understand my self and my own actions, but it will help my friends and family understand ME along with helping ME to understand my connections and interactions with them. So....after several personality tests from reputable sources, here is what I have learned:


#1) I am an ESFJ

Portrait of an ESFJ - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging
(Extraverted Feeling with Introverted Sensing)

---

The Caregiver

As an ESFJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit in with your personal value system. Your secondary mode is internal, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion.

ESFJs are people persons - they love people. They are warmly interested in others. They use their Sensing and Judging characteristics to gather specific, detailed information about others, and turn this information into supportive judgments. They want to like people, and have a special skill at bringing out the best in others. They are extremely good at reading others, and understanding their point of view. The ESFJ's strong desire to be liked and for everything to be pleasant makes them highly supportive of others. People like to be around ESFJs, because the ESFJ has a special gift of invariably making people feel good about themselves.

The ESFJ takes their responsibilities very seriously, and is very dependable. They value security and stability, and have a strong focus on the details of life. They see before others do what needs to be done, and do whatever it takes to make sure that it gets done. They enjoy these types of tasks, and are extremely good at them.

ESFJs are warm and energetic. They need approval from others to feel good about themselves. They are hurt by indifference and don't understand unkindness. They are very giving people, who get a lot of their personal satisfaction from the happiness of others. They want to be appreciated for who they are, and what they give. They're very sensitive to others, and freely give practical care. ESFJs are such caring individuals, that they sometimes have a hard time seeing or accepting a difficult truth about someone they care about.

With Extraverted Feeling dominating their personality, ESFJs are focused on reading other people. They have a strong need to be liked, and to be in control. They are extremely good at reading others, and often change their own manner to be more pleasing to whoever they're with at the moment.

The ESFJ's value system is defined externally. They usually have very well-formed ideas about the way things should be, and are not shy about expressing these opinions. However, they weigh their values and morals against the world around them, rather than against an internal value system. They may have a strong moral code, but it is defined by the community that they live in, rather than by any strongly felt internal values.

ESFJs who have had the benefit of being raised and surrounded by a strong value system that is ethical and centered around genuine goodness will most likely be the kindest, most generous souls who will gladly give you the shirt off of their back without a second thought. For these individuals, the selfless quality of their personality type is genuine and pure. ESFJs who have not had the advantage of developing their own values by weighing them against a good external value system may develop very questionable values. In such cases, the ESFJ most often genuinely believes in the integrity of their skewed value system. They have no internal understanding of values to set them straight. In weighing their values against our society, they find plenty of support for whatever moral transgression they wish to justify. This type of ESFJ is a dangerous person indeed. Extraverted Feeling drives them to control and manipulate, and their lack of Intuition prevents them from seeing the big picture. They're usually quite popular and good with people, and good at manipulating them. Unlike their ENFJ cousin, they don't have Intuition to help them understand the real consequences of their actions. They are driven to manipulate other to achieve their own ends, yet they believe that they are following a solid moral code of conduct.

All ESFJs have a natural tendency to want to control their environment. Their dominant function demands structure and organization, and seeks closure. ESFJs are most comfortable with structured environments. They're not likely to enjoy having to do things which involve abstract, theoretical concepts, or impersonal analysis. They do enjoy creating order and structure, and are very good at tasks which require these kinds of skills. ESFJs should be careful about controling people in their lives who do not wish to be controlled.

ESFJs respect and believe in the laws and rules of authority, and believe that others should do so as well. They're traditional, and prefer to do things in the established way, rather than venturing into unchartered territory. Their need for security drives their ready acceptance and adherence to the policies of the established system. This tendency may cause them to sometimes blindly accept rules without questioning or understanding them.

An ESFJ who has developed in a less than ideal way may be prone to being quite insecure, and focus all of their attention on pleasing others. He or she might also be very controling, or overly sensitive, imagining bad intentions when there weren't any. (emphasis added!)

ESFJs incorporate many of the traits that are associated with women in our society. However, male ESFJs will usually not appear feminine at all. On the contrary, ESFJs are typically quite conscious about gender roles and will be most comfortable playing a role that suits their gender in our society. Male ESFJs will be quite masculine (albeit sensitive when you get to know them), and female ESFJs will be very feminine.

ESFJs at their best are warm, sympathetic, helpful, cooperative, tactful, down-to-earth, practical, thorough, consistent, organized, enthusiastic, and energetic. They enjoy tradition and security, and will seek stable lives that are rich in contact with friends and family.

Jungian functional preference ordering:

Dominant: Extraverted Feeling
Auxiliary: Introverted Sensing
Tertiary: Extraverted Intuition
Inferior: Introverted Thinking

#2) In grad school I read the "Wisdom of the Enneagram". I just re-took the test and confirmed that I am STILL a 2 on the Enneagram personality scale.

Type Two Overview

We have named personality type Two The Helper because people of this type are either the most genuinely helpful to other people or, when they are less healthy they are the most highly invested in seeing themselves as helpful. Being generous and going out of their way for others makes Twos feel that theirs is the richest, most meaningful way to live. The love and concern they feel—and the genuine good they do—warms their hearts and makes them feel worthwhile. Twos are most interested in what they feel to be the “really, really good” things in life—love, closeness, sharing, family, and friendship....

When Twos are healthy and in balance, they really are loving, helpful, generous, and considerate. People are drawn to them like bees to honey. Healthy Twos warm others in the glow of their hearts. They enliven others with their appreciation and attention, helping people to see positive qualities in themselves that they had not previously recognized. In short, healthy Twos are the embodiment of “the good parent” that everyone wishes they had: someone who sees them as they are, understands them with immense compassion, helps and encourages with infinite patience, and is always willing to lend a hand—while knowing precisely how and when to let go. Healthy Twos open our hearts because theirs are already so open and they show us the way to be more deeply and richly human.....

However, Twos’ inner development may be limited by their “shadow side”—pride, self-deception, the tendency to become over-involved in the lives of others, and the tendency to manipulate others to get their own emotional needs met. Transformational work entails going into dark places in ourselves, and this very much goes against the grain of the Two’s personality structure, which prefers to see itself in only the most positive, glowing terms.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle facing Twos, Threes, and Fours in their inner work is having to face their underlying Center fear of worthlessness. Beneath the surface, all three types fear that they are without value in themselves, and so they must be or do something extraordinary in order to win love and acceptance from others. In the average to unhealthy Levels, Twos present a false image of being completely generous and unselfish and of not wanting any kind of pay-off for themselves, when in fact, they can have enormous expectations and unacknowledged emotional needs.

Average to unhealthy Twos seek validation of their worth by obeying their superego’s demands to sacrifice themselves for others. They believe they must always put others first and be loving and unselfish if they want to get love. The problem is that “putting others first” makes Twos secretly angry and resentful, feelings they work hard to repress or deny. Nevertheless, they eventually erupt in various ways, disrupting Twos’ relationships and revealing the inauthenticity of many of the average to unhealthy Two’s claims about themselves and the depth of their “love.”

And of course, I couldn't leave THIS one out! :) Just for my dearest friend in the world (yes, Katie P, that's you!)

#3) I am a LIBRA! :)

Libra is the only zodiac symbol that's neither animal nor human -- but surely that doesn't make you any less human. In fact, Libra is among the most sociable of the signs. As scales of old were really "balances," so to do you seek balance in all that Libra does. You respond to situations with grace as Libra attempts to put others at ease. Artistically, Libra tries to balance form, content, colors and elements, and for this reason can be drawn toward creative endeavors.

The greatest balancing act is between self and others, and it is here that many Libras focus their energy. Here, in the realm of interpersonal relationships, you are a champion. Libra know how to be the charming host or hostess. Libra can sense what others want before they ask for it. And you can make the needs of others a higher priority than your own. In fact, Libra is the shuttle diplomats of the zodiac, going back and forth between the extremes until a solution is negotiated.

The Libra motto might be "To every action there is an opposite and equal reaction." It is your innate sense of cause and effect that makes you so effective as a strategist. Whether it's playing chess, relationship counseling or civic planning, you know how to be effective while staying in the middle of the road. Your easygoing attitude can serve you and others well, but don't forget that your needs cannot go totally unfulfilled or you won't have anything to give to others.

So, I am who I am and there isn't a WHOLE lot I can do about it accept make the choices in my life to be the best of the person that I am. I am working on the parenting and the marriage part. Friends, relationships, and work are in the mix as well, but for now, I am learning how to use my nature and my personality to be the best wife and mother that I can be. I'm learning a lot about myself and a lot about my boys at the same time! What a journey this is!

Parenting Trials....

So, I spent part of my afternoon in tears and most of my evening in a bit of a daze. Ethan and I have been on a short rope with each other lately and today I pretty much had a breakdown. This parenting thing is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be and I have a pretty stinkin' great kid "right out of the box", so I can't imagine what might have been.....

Ethan has turned 5 years old and has a controlling and demanding mommy. The poor guy has done pretty well with all of it so far, but lately, he's not putting up with much of my crap. There are fits and whining sessions and crying and physical lash-outs. It's not pretty, folks. Of course, all of this stops the minute daddy walks in the door because daddy is the calming factor in BOTH of our lives. His laid-back nature and over-all calm are a vital part in Ethan and I's successful relationship. :)

Today, I was home. I had no obligations. No teaching, no meetings, I didn't go to rehearsal. I was just home. Ethan and I got into a few tussles (mostly power struggles) early in the morning and he was already down a few privileges and had scored a few time-outs before lunch. I thought maybe a distraction was in order, so I had his friend come over and play for a couple of hours. That actually worked very well. Ethan and Austin played together very well and I was able to clean my room, get some laundry done and sort through Ethan's toys and pick up his room a bit. I gave the 10 minute and 5 minute warnings (complete with responses from both boys) after a couple of hours that it would be time for Austin to go home, but it didn't seem to matter. Ethan threw a fit. Austin (who is going into 8th grade, but fairly autistic) stared at Ethan like he was some creature. :) Austin and I got our shoes on and headed out to the car and Ethan eventually showed up complete with tears, and fit throwing/door slamming. On the way home I asked Ethan if he was embarrassed by his behavior and let him know that it was completely inappropriate. My rant was met with only more negative nasty fit-like behavior. I started yelling, he started yelling and I sent him to his room (after yelling at him to go there). Sam was home for lunch and I won't go into the dirty details, but he was the recipient of my anger as well. I went in my room, slammed the door and cried and cried. Mostly at that point, I felt like the victim. I was pissed at Sam for pointing out that my behavior was no different than Ethan's. I was pissed at Ethan because he has NOT been behaving like the angel child I know him to be.

So...there's my dirty laundry for the day and here's what I have learned in all of this. I'm 1/2 way through the book I picked up at the library yesterday (and started reading today) called "ScreamFree Parenting". Yes...I know myself pretty well. I'm passionate, energetic, dedicated, and ambitious. This means that I'm a yeller. :) So...here's what I've learned so far:

By reacting to my son's acting out, I am bring my anxiety and fears into the equation. I fear (the same as every parent) on some deep level that if he's throwing fits and acting out NOW at age 5, he's going to grow up to be full of repressed anger and walk into a mall and shoot everyone. :)

So...I am going to run an experiment. I am going to learn to calm MYSELF before reacting to a situation. If I can be calm and rational, I can usually work through our trials WITHOUT ending in a power struggle. I am working to raise him to be a self-guided and confident adult. The only way to do that is to give him some control over his own life. I'm going to work on respecting his space. I want him to knock before coming into my room, he deserves the same respect. I am going to change the way I look at parenting so there is less REACTION and more ACTION.

One thing I am doing to implement this new change is dedicated time with Ethan. We played legos for an hour and a half today and all I could think about was what I SHOULD be doing. I wanted to work in the backyard and finish cleaning the house. I will be limiting my computer time (again) and we will both (Ethan and I) be using timers for a while.

I'll keep you posted. For now, I'm 1 minute and 23 seconds over my limit and it's time for bed. More tomorrow...or another day when things have gone a little better. :)

The Forney Reunion Version 20.10

This year's Forney Family Reunion was not without incident. It was not perfect in every way and yet, somehow it made it in the books as one of my favorites. Right up there with the year in Lincoln city with the big bathtub, the year in Kellogg with the mansion and Silverwood, and some of my other favorites, like one of the older years with the "gathering place" in the middle of the properties.

The 2010 Forney Family Reuion was held in Kennewick, Washington at the home of Ross Forney and Katie Flynn.

Ross and Katie had decided to remodel their top floor 2 weeks before hand, which is another story altogether... Anyway. The sink was still setting and the tile grout was still drying and the stove had not yet been installed when everyone arrived and everyone helped out where they could to make sure the kitchen could be used. My dear brother Ross just about had a heart attack every day and should NEVER do any kind of remodeling again! :)

We all had a lovely time. We lounged by the pool, slept in, some played in the river on the wave runners. The kids jumped in the pool over and over and over and over and over all day long for 3 or 4 days and never got tired of it! We spent evenings listening to music and hanging out on the deck. Laughing at stories and reminiscing. We sat around and looked at pictures and watched funny youtube videos. We talked to my cousin Erik about heading off to Vietnam for a year of studying and cousin Carrie about starting her freshman year of college. We talked about the years past when Grant didn't talk and celebrated that we got to hear from him a bit this year. :) We enjoyed watching grandma change her mind about liking and not liking the dogs depending on their behavior. Anna came again this year and brought her bunny and guinea pig just in case there weren't enough people and animals already. :) The kids LOVED having them on the deck to play with when they weren't in the pool.

Only one minor "incident" of someone drinking too much and it wasn't any of us, so it all worked out just fine. There was little or no stress, tons of food, some beer pong by the pool, and tons of laughing....

It was amazing to me that we didn't need anything at all. Grandma and pa have spoiled us so much in the past. We have had 12,000 sq. ft. mansions in the woods of Kellogg, Idaho. We have had HUGE vacation homes on the coast, a lodge with a pool outside of Wenatchee, condos in Leavenworth, and year after year of not worrying about lodging costs. This year, they lost a lot of their fun money in the stock market and so we held the reunion at Ross and Katie's house. It was amazing! We didn't need a fancy mansion. People didn't argue over the sleeping arrangements. No one complained about the noise level at night and no one instigated any drama....well...none of US anyway. The only complaints I heard from anyone at all were that Sarah Forney wasn't able to make it and that Paul wasn't around very much. Everyone had a lovely time and enjoyed each other's company! Thank you, Ross and Katie, for one of the best years yet.

Now...here are a few inside jokes and quotes from the Forney Reunion 20.10:

Grant: "mom, please stop straddling me..."

Grandma: (who is CONVINCED that phart is a German word that means gathering although Google disagrees) "The Forney Fart should be spelled p-h-a-r-t!"

Grandma: during the youtube video of someone getting really excited about a double rainbow "he's having a climax"--wow grandma. :)

Someone (Sophia?) referencing our long-running hat joke with Erik: "put your hat on if your knees are sore"

Grandma: "Did someone just lick my leg?" -laughter-"oh...it was the dog." Carrie: "case closed."

Ann: "Their names are Blazer and Dash" Grandma: "that's a dog's name".

Ann: "I hit my kids ALL THE TIME!"

Erik to me via Facebook: "Ok: You told everyone the funny bird story and we all laughed. Then Ross told the special girl story and we all laughed. Then you told Ross the funny bird story and we all laughed. Then grandma said something about how we all started laughing when you told the bird story, seemingly forgetting about the special girl story. Except I got confused and then someone spilled coffee and I really can't explain."

Erik wears a hat because his arms get sore from running his hands through his hair. :)

Grandma: "look at my toes!".

Grandpa (taken from Erik's facebook): " I come into the family reunion and everyone has their computers on their laps looking at their facesheets and tweetering and checking their spacebooks." Grandpa...you rock! :)

Ethan learns about money

We've been teaching Ethan about money. About a year or so ago, we made these jars:


We started paying him 3 quarters a day for doing all of the things on his chart. Some of these things were chores and some were things like "listen to adults", "be respectful to others", and "do something nice for someone". When he got his stickers at the end of the day, he got his quarters. If he didn't manage to get all of his stickers, he still got quarters, but not all three. We talked about giving and saving and what those things meant in relation to spending. He REALLY responded to it! We still have the jars and we still use them in full force, but we no longer have a sticker chart. Now it's quite random. Today I paid him to help me haul old paint cans up from the basement and load them into the jeep to dispose of. Sometimes I will randomly give him some "spend" money when he does something unexpectedly kind for someone. We take our give money to church and recently he contributed the entirety to a "purchase a wheelchair for a kid" mission during our church's VBS.

On his birthday in April this year, Ethan got 2 checks from his grandparents. Money is awesome to receive for your birthday, but I wondered if he understood how much money $25 (x2 checks!!) was. I went to the bank and instead of just putting the $$ in his savings and giving him a little bit to spend, I cashed them both in one dollar denominations. Then I laid them out in front of him so he could see how many dollars were from each grandparent. :) He was surprised!! and felt very rich!!!.............


Then we counted out a little to spend and put the rest in his savings. It was a great lesson!
A couple of days ago, Ethan wanted to set up a lemonade stand. I helped him make the Lemonade and I only had HUGE red cups, so he asked for $1 per large cup. He was out there for about 2 hours. He learned about service and patience and the exchange that buying and selling is. :)

Plus...he was REALLY CUTE! :) He made $9 in 2 hours and only $2 of that came from me and dad. :) I thank the 7 random people who stopped by and bought a cup of lemonade from my son to teach him a valuable lesson we all remember learning as kids in some fashion or another. Except the guy who asked if my 5 year old had change for a $20 at his lemonade stand....who does that? :) We made it work anyway and I spotted him his $1 and he DID come back and re-pay it, so I guess that gets him some points. :) Ah....learning the value of money......

GREAT day for work on the house!

Well, the construction in the back room made leaps and bounds today! Mr. Sam has been spending most (if not all) of his time to get Ross's (my brother) kitchen cabinets finished so that they can put them in their remodeled kitchen sometime very soon. Here are some of those:
Pretty, huh? Mr. Sam does a GREAT job in his shop!! Don't mind the drawer without a front....there is one....there was just a...well...we'll say a slight issue. So...Mr. Sam is fixing it. :)

Well...the kitchen project is all but done and today was a day to spend on our back hallway project. We have just about as much done now as we can get done with the materials we have. We still need trim, a doorknob, some outlets and switches and then we get the joy of putting up the siding. However, Mr. Sam did a TON of work ALL DAY today and got pretty danged far!!

So, here are some photo updates of our "back hallway" behind the kitchen:
Here's the paint color...well...kind of. It's actually prettier than the pic. :) It's been painted for a while now...



Here is Sam putting up the trim. Again...happened the same day as the paint.
Here is the outside with the two "window units" in place. This installation process was today's work! The door prep (painting, sanding, and finishing as they came unfinished) took Sam forever to do from the minute he got the doors until not too long ago. They look FANTASTIC!Here is the door installation prep work...oh...and a popsicle break. :)
Here are the three units installed. The view from the outside. And a cute little boy.
Here are all three units installed from the inside. It was tricky to get a good picture because of the angle of the doorway I was standing through and shooting from the inside out is always tricky, but you can get the idea.

And here is the finished floor!!

So...LOTS of work got done today!! Tomorrow I am going to start working on the backyard a bit and see if I can't get a handle on the jungle back there. I'm choosing to ignore the hill for now and mostly just attack the places in the back yard that we live in and walk in and play in (well, would like to do those things). I have asked around to borrow a weed-eater and ...I think I have found a great solution. :) A friend of mine has a friend with goats. :) Yes...goats. We are going to hook up and do each other a favor (or two) with the exchange of said goats to hang out tied up in my backyard for a bit. I think they will have more fun "weed-wacking" than I would. :) I'll take pictures and let you know if I get in trouble for having a goat (maybe a couple) within city limits. :) What better way to get yard care and fertilization all at the same time? Man...we really are small-town Eastern Oregoners.

Judgment...who has the time?

So, I have realized in my old age (all of 31) that judgment of others is really a waste of time. I have spent my life wanting more for people than they want for themselves. I think that, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. I want my husband to be the best that he can be and be happy doing what he does. I want my siblings to meet wonderful mates and spend the rest of their lives realizing their potential. I want my mom to make the choice in her life that will make her the most happy and show her who she really is. I want my son to share his toys. :) I want my students to be successful in their daily search for growth and enlightenment. However, I am learning that there is a difference between wanting the best for everyone and being upset at them for not making the choices that I see as "clearly the path to take them there". That's the judgment part. I have decided that it's just not worth it...the being upset part. It doesn't help them and it doesn't help me. I've decided to turn that around. I am proud of my family members. I am proud of all of my siblings. They have all become wonderful people. I am proud of my husband and my son. I am proud of my students and from here on out, I will celebrate the people in my life and work to build them up rather than tear them down or tell them how I think their lives should have turned out. Who do I think I am anyway?

Let me give you an example. My sister Emma is stubborn. She knows this and it's one of her best and worst qualities. Her husband is a diver and got a job in Louisiana. In order to keep her family unit together, she moved to Louisiana when their baby was just a couple months old. She drove there. Across the country. In a fairly unreliable car. She lost her wallet. She took someone with her, but that person turned out NOT to be a lot of help when she needed it most and was more of a burden than a help. They slept in lighted gas station parking lots and rest areas and I said to myself (and to others)....she's crazy! What is she thinking? She's putting herself and her baby at risk so that she can drive far away and live by herself while her husband is away on a ship in the middle of the ocean. I thought she was being ridiculous and stubborn and I chose to judge her instead of support her. Had I approached the situation differently and been more supportive of her actions, we would have a stronger relationship and maybe I could have made what must have been a VERY difficult transition just a little easier on my little sister. Now that I look with different eyes, I see her bravery. Her fear must have always been on the edge of her thoughts and yet, she felt this was the best decision for her family at the time and did what she felt was best to accomplish her mission of keeping her family together. Instead of supporting that, I was upset with her and couldn't understand her reasoning.

Let's back up a few years. It's the year 1998 and I am a failing freshman at CWU (1.8 GPA and on academic probation...however...for posterity, you all should know that I graduated from EOU with a 3.7 GPA and went on to graduate school. :)). Someone approaches me and convinces me that I can make thousands of dollars by selling encyclopedias door to door. Now...you may laugh, but when you are making "interesting" choices in your life and you are learning what it means to be on your own...a lot of things sound pretty good. I paid my $400 (that I didn't have, by the way) and got my training and my books. Then, I got in a car that didn't belong to me and I drove BY MYSELF to Tennessee. I drove through tornadoes and parked under the overpass on the FREEWAY with everyone else so the car I was driving wasn't damaged by golf-ball sized hail. I slept in rest areas with the rest of my caravan and cried myself to sleep with fear. I got to Tennessee and took my week-long training and gave the guy back his car. Here I was, 19 years old in Tennessee with no car and very little money. They hooked me up with a roommate and sent us off to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. We arrived and had to live out of a dive of a hotel until we could find somewhere to live for the summer as the company had not arranged for housing. We found a basement to live in and began our selling. It took me about 4 days to realize that I was NOT good at selling things door to door. I spent the rest of my time in Massachusetts hanging out at the park during the day so my roommate wouldn't know that I wasn't even trying. It only took a short time before I called home and mom bought me a GREYHOUND ticket across the country. I rode that greyhound bus for days from Massachusetts to Washington. Now....how is my sister's choice to move to Louisiana to keep her family together and establish a life on her own any more "reckless" than my behavior? She had good reasons and a plan. I had NO reason and NO plan and it cost me (however, I will never forget the experience). I was being selfish when Emma moved and not thinking of her best interest and that of her new family, only of myself and what I felt was best for her.

I have stories like this for everyone I know. Stories when I judged when I should have either been supportive or kept to myself. I am going to work hard to make sure that I am a more supportive and less judgmental sister, mom, and friend. Hopefully, I will make a positive difference in the lives around me rather than a negative one. Just like Emma's stubbornness, my desire for everyone to reach their potential is both a positive and a negative trait in my character. I need to figure out how to use it more for the positive and learn to keep my opinions to myself when it's appropriate to do so.

Deep thoughts by Jamie. :)

The 2010 NATS Convention

I've been home for a while now from the annual NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) convention in Salt Lake City. It has taken this long for me to process all of the information that I gained while I was there and to realize exactly what I had the opportunity to experience. I took amazing classes from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm every day for six amazing days. In the evenings, we had performances and networking receptions. I went to every class I could and learned more in the 6 days I was there than in a good chunk of my time in college. :)

Please...allow me to name drop. :) Kurt Alexander-Zeller taught 3 days of a fantastic body mapping class (out of his book "What Every Singer Needs to Know about the Body"). Joan Frey Boytim offered a Publisher Showcase on her new editions to be published and gave out free books. John Glenn Paton (26 Italian Songs and Arias(purple hits), the Gateway to Diction series and others)sat in and offered his thoughts on teaching Diction classes in the pre-conference workshops. Ingo Titze presented a main workshop on the cutting edge science of the female voice. Lisa Popeil gave a class on how to teach the belting technique. Nancy Bos gave a session on how to teach the contemporary musician to be successful and healthy in their vocal production. Kelli O'Hara gave a concert that was out of the world fantastic and then came the next day and worked with students in a masterclass setting. Simon Estes was our keynote speaker at the gala during the last night and that is just a smattering of names of those that were presenting.

I roomed with an amazing woman from the conservatory of music in Sydney, Australia. I learned so much from her!! I took a student, Erin Wunz, with me and I wish I had taken more!!

I am swimming with new ideas and ways to better serve my students and I can't wait for the fall to begin so that I can share all the information I learned.

What an amazing experience! I couldn't have done it without my hubby who supported me fully in funding my trip and holding down the home fort while I was gone. This included working 10 hour days at work and coming home and shuffling to and from soccer and sitters and not to mention the food and clothing parts of life.... He's amazing and I am lucky to have him and his support in my passion.

I'll post more once I start employing some of my new-found amazing-ness. :)