I understand that my mom has recently publicized my blog address, so to friends and family who are visiting the blog for the first time, welcome! If you have news or pictures you'd like to share, feel free to send them to me at klatshaw@gmail.com Usually I just report on myself, Chuck, and our dog, but other updates are a great way to keep up with everyone. So if you'd like to bookmark it (I try to update it every few days), point your browser to http://latshaw.blogspot.com!Considering that we haven't even put up our Christmas tree yet, it's looking doubtful that I'm going to be sending the Christmas cards anytime soon. So I want to electronically wish everyone reading a very happy holiday season, and give a little Latshaw/Russell Year in Review!
The highlights of our year were our visits with our family. My sister came out to Bloomington to visit us during March, which was great because I had been particularly homesick. She is doing very well in school, and will graduate in May with her nursing degree. During the spring semester she'll be working in the neo-natal intensive care unit in her hospital. (The picture is Annie with her boyfriend, John, who is a teacher in Connecticut.)In June, we got to see both sides of our family. First we traveled to my parents' new lake house in Maine, where we spent several days relaxing. From there we went to Holland, Michigan, to spend a few days on Lake Michigan with the Latshaw side. We got to see all six of our nieces and nephews and had a SUPER time.
My parents got to go to Turino for the Olympics, which inspired an invitation to the rest of the Russell family to participate in the "Slow Olympics" in Maine. The Games took place about a month after we visited, so we were unable to participate, but they had a great time.
As you can see a few posts down, we also met my parents in Columbus, Ohio for a Buckeye football game! We got tickets for the IU/OSU game and had a great weekend. It was a big highlight of a fantastic Buckeye football season! (We also managed to teach Lenny to growl at the word "Michigan!") We also spent Thanksgiving with the Russells in Connecticut (photos also below in previous post) - my favorite holiday to spend with my big family!
We are also looking forward to seeing the Latshaw/Boros/Cooper clan next week in Toledo, where we'll celebrate Christmas. I don't have to go back to work until January 3rd, so we'll have a nice long break to spend time with them, and maybe take a short little trip to Chicago. We haven't been able to go to a lot of our nieces' and nephews' birthday parties this year - I was especially disappointed we missed the Superman party - and I am looking forward to seeing all six of them. (And one more niece is on the way!)
Chuck has a great year at IU. A year ago, Chuck was just beginning his work with the Columbus IN Philharmonic orchestra. He's been very busy with that this year, conducting on two concerts, and running the youth orchestra program. He's done many other performances at IU, including his Master's recital in February and Beethoven 7 this summer. He also guest conducted with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra for their summer pops concert, which included a lively Looney Tunes medley, complete with a carrot serving as Chuck's baton (what's up, doc!?). If you'd like to see any of his performances, he's posted them all on his website, charleslatshaw.com, and on YouTube. He's had over 40,000 hits on his conducting videos!Chuck will graduate from Indiana University in May with his master's degree. Job prospects are improving for him; he's had a few conducting applications where's he's made the semi-finals or finals for positions. Most recently, he was one of 4 finalists for an orchestra that had 140 applicants for the music director position.
Chuck had the big achievement of running a half-marathon this fall. I'm still working on finishing a 5K...one of my New Year's resolutions. My cousin Greg also just recently ran his first marathon - congratulations!
The dog, Lenny, had a bigger year than he probably expected to - and certainly had bigger vet bills than we expected! In February, he tore his ACL in his knee, which required surgery, and he had about a six-month recovery before he was using his leg fully. He's about 90% back to where he was before the injury, but no longer pulls me along when we go jogging together. It's also a little more difficult for him to steal anything off of the kitchen counter. Chuck has changed from disciplinarian to big softie since his injury. "No snacks! No people food - EVER!" has turned into daily reward treats. "No dog in the bed!" has turned into napping with Lenny next to him.
My year consisted mostly of working away in the advising office for the music school at IU. My mother-in-law June has been giving me a lot of great sewing advice and lessons, and I've actually made an article of clothing that I could wear in public! I got to play in a lot of performances, including a "tango opera" by Piazzola this summer, and some new compositions by IU composers. I also was incredibly lucky to take an orchestral repertoire class during fall semester with an amazing flute professor. Monday night class was the highlight of my week - it was really inspiring for me.However, at the end of the summer I played a couple of really bad auditions, mostly due to the fact that I didn't have enough time during the day to practice adequately to prepare for them. I was working 40 hours a week, practicing before work, at night, even during my lunch hour. So combining that frustration with the excitement from my flute class led me to a big decision - I've applied to start a "Performer Diploma" program at IU next year, with the professor who taught the class. Keep your fingers crossed for me - I'll play my audition in about 6 weeks.
Some other exciting things this year included my friend Jen's beautiful wedding, and my friend Amanda getting engaged! We've enjoyed having her here in Bloomington just a block away from us.
So with Chuck finishing his degree, and me possibly starting a new one, who knows what will be going on next time this year. I hope that the next year will bring lots of good times with family and friends again. Be happy and healthy, and come visit us in Bloomington anytime!
