Most of my life I have been that one in the corner, the abstract thinker, the eccentric, and the last one to get picked on the team. I am shy, backwards and twitchy. Yes my friends, I am awkward. It all started in the fourth grade when my family moved to another school in the district. I was the token new kid that year and for some reason everyone was afraid of me. I was all of 4 foot nothing and a tad on the chubby side, what in the heck was there to be afraid of? It seemed like the ...

During my daily surf here on JU I ran across an enthralling short story by fellow blogger Dylan Zimmerman. Her blog has inspired me to get back to a great passion of mine; writing. Before I was the slightest bit interested in music or teaching, I wanted to be a writer. All through middle school and high school I would write pages and pages of ficticious stories. It is a hobby of mine I would love to get back to. I have decided to use JU as my medium. Be on the lookout for my work in pro...

Ever since I've been married and moved my life has been like a roller coaster ride. I get up around 7 every morning, work out, go to work, come home to an empty house and before you know it, when I see Hardin for the first time of the day which is usually in the evening, I'm dead tired and falling asleep. Sure, I have my two days off, but he's either off playing gigs or doing school work. Last weekend we did make it out to the Eastern tip of Long Island and do some hiking, but that was on...

I am full of piss and vinegar. I have endless amounts of energy. I think a lot of it comes from teaching music, singing, and bouncing around with kids all day. I love to sing. I am in the process of contactiing a few choruses out here on Long Island. This is hard to do over Easter Weekend. I think I could eat all day. I love to eat. Food is awesome. I don't discriminate. I dig health food like veggies and fruit, meaty dishes like bbq ribs and steak, earthy food like nuts and ...

Hey fellow JUers! Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but I was sick and down for the count. I had a sinus infection and a stomach virus all in one! I didn't eat for 4 days straight...kind of frightening. I really made Hardin put those vows to the test (that whole sickness and in health thing). He took me to the doctor and nursed me back to health. What a man!! Today is the first day where I feel pretty darn close to 100%. I guess that's what I get for working with kids! I missed ...

Hardin and I decided to go to the newly opened Cold Stone Creamery ice cream parlor by the grocery store. The concept behind this place is very neat. You start out with a simple flavor of ice cream, pick from an assortment of toppings, and the person behind the counter puts all of these goodies on a cold mixing stone and mixes them together to create your own signature flavor of ice cream. I decided to get cake batter flavored ice cream with snickers bars mixed in and Hardin got pistachio ...

For those of you who don't know I was a freelance musician. I have played (french) horn with some of the biggest (and smallest) names throughout Ohio. My resume includes multiple genres of music. I technically have achieved rockstar status (I've recorded on a few CDs), but could also perform beethoven at the drop of a hat. I have played for theatre and dance events. I am a jazzer as well. Or atleast I was... Making music used to be a blast, but somehow it lost it's luster. Betw...

Two days later as I was folding laundry and trying to keep my brother out of trouble, the phone rang. It was Ryan.... "Hello?" "Alison?" "This is she, who is this?" Although I asked the question, I damned well knew exactly who it was. It was Rollerblading Ryan from the Italian American Festival. I can't believe he actually called. "This is Ryan Dean. I met you the other night at the fireworks. How are you?" "I'm okay," I said in a rather aloof fashion. I began t...

The Summer of 1998 was also a very memorable summer. It summer before my Senior year of high school. Over the past year had decided that I was going to go to college and become an orchestra musician. I spent hours at a time cooped up in my room practicing my horn. This meant no time for drama. I quickly realized the superficialness that was Katie and Michelle, dumped them, and did my own thing. In the process of emancipation from dramatization, I hung around a new circle of friends. ...

Looking back on it, the summer of 1996 proved to be in the top three of most memorable summers. It was a summer of change. It was a summer of self actualization. It was a summer of friendship. Luke and I saw each other off and on during the rest of that summer until the band went to Cedar Point to play a show. It was there he met Kim, a percussionist in the marching band, and immediately became attracted to her. It was that day our puppy love turned into a brother-sisterly friendshi...

The Summer of 1996. The Saga Continues.... Okay, okay, so maybe I did like Luke a little. Okay, I liked Luke a lot. The last thing I wanted to hear was a big fat, "Told you so!" from my friends, so I decided to sneak the fact in during conversation. Luckily, no one said anything. When Katie and I got back to my house, we giggled over the fact that I used to hate him, and now I sort of liked him. I made her swear that she would never tell Katie and Michelle because they would neve...

As promised, here's the rest of the Summer of 1996. **Some names have been changed for sake of the other person. There it was, the line in the sand. The fractions were split. It was Michelle and grade school Katie vs. Katie and myself. Katie and I did everything together that summer. It seemed like our number one favorite activity to do was walk. We would walk miles and miles each day, talking about everything from boys to the up comming school year. I was excited to finally be i...

The Summer of 1996 has all of the makings of an after school special, thus the reason it needed to be separated into two parts. That school year Katie, Michelle, and I decided to take another friend under our wing. Ironically enough, her name is Katie. She fit right into our circle of friends. Grade school Katie was the girly girl of the group, Michelle was the tom boy, the other Katie was the quiet one, and I was the loud mouth. We spent most of our free time on the phone, having ca...

The Summer of 1995 was neither memorable or forgettable, but nevertheless, it deserves a spot on my list. Let me fill you in on what happened that school year: I was reunited with my childhood friend Katie that year by signing up for Jazz Band. She, my friend Michelle, and I were the "power trio." We did everything together. All the girl power kind of brought down my relationship with Curtis, and we broke up that January. I was heartbroken and cried for days, but my girls stood by me t...