alright, i give in to boredom

25 things...I doubt I can get up that high, but here goes:



1. I'm the son of an LCMS minister, therefore I am LCMS. It's taken me a long time to grow in my faith to where I feel like it is my own rather than something my parents did. Now I've come to terms with it being a faith that is strong and ever growing, but whose seed was planted by my parents and I am very grateful to them.



2. Family is extremely important to me. Especially my immediate family: Mom, Dad, two married sisters and a married brother with 5 children between the three.



3. I'm the youngest of my parents children by 10 years and this caused me to feel somewhat like an only child. I'm closer in age to my oldest niece (Sarah, age 17) than my youngest sibling (Jonathan, age 33).



4. I tend to hang out with my family when I'm at home and forgoe some opportunities to hang out with friends I haven't seen in a long time. I hang out with Sarah, Hannah, and Jeremiah, Ruth's kids, a lot while I'm at home and even their friends. We go up to the lake, play on playgrounds, play board games, and watch scary movies to pass the time and love every minute of it.



5. Within my extended family, my mother was the 11th of 12 children and I was then the youngest of 39 grandchildren. Several of the next generation are older than me and married already. I love attending Ludwig Reunions every 3 years and seeing all those 100+ friendly faces.



6. I've been with my current girlfriend, Kristin, for 3 years, 2 months, and 10 days and plan to extend that period of time infinitely. She and I have grown very close and I feel like she is one of my closest friends as well as the one I love.



7. I have many friends, but few are close. This resulted in my posting these 25 things on this blog rather than on facebook or myspace. Friends who are close tend to be ones I choose to spend time with outside of required classes and ensembles.



8. I love music. It sustains my existence. I live my life to a soundtrack and could not do without it.



9. Due to the above statement, I could not remain an engineering student in college and switched to a music career path. This switch not only made me more happy, it was necessary.



10. My primary instrument is trumpet as you all know, but I can and have also extensively played piano, handbells, french horn, and sung in choirs. I hope to learn guitar much better than I currently know it once I can afford to purchase a nice one.



11. I have participated in concert band, jazz band, pep band, orchestra, pit orchestra, quintets, quartets, sextets, other odd chamber ensembles, brass choirs, trumpet choirs, a professional orchestra, and several other things I just can't think of at the moment. I've gotten paid to play in the professional orchestra, weddings, Estonian cultural ceremonies, yacht club functions, worship services, and much more. Is it safe to call me a music nerd, why yes, it is.


12. I listen to nearly all genres of music and will likely enjoy most anything that is on as background music. I will definitely attend concerts of the major orchestras as often as I can. I even enjoy the occasional new music concert down in Chicago with members of the symphony.

13. I am an Ohio man through and through. I always pull for the Ohio sports teams. I love the Indians, Cavs, Browns, and Buckeyes.

14. That being said, my favorite city, and a city that I would love to live near one day is Chicago. This is the first city I've been able to enjoy as an adult, free from home and it carries many special memories for me because of this.

15. I bleed Brown and Gold. I may complain or bash VU's sports teams, but this is only because I care. If I didn't want them to win so badly, I wouldn't be so upset when they fall short of their potential year in and year out.

16. My academic struggles took a long time to come to an end, but now I will be graduating with a BA in Music and will take a year to substitute teach before entering Teach For America to teach while gaining a Masters degree in Education. This is how I will reach my ultimate goal of teaching high school music.

17. While I will teach, I also plan to remain active as a performer and play in a professional orchestra and perhaps a few small ensembles while gigging on the side.

18. I hope to live in the great lakes region or perhaps St. Louis, but wouldn't be crushed if I ended up in the Northwest because it is beautiful up there and the culture is similar to out here.

19. I want to get married eventually and have children to build my own family. I think that a family is very important to keep one sane and to help one grow as a person.

20. I love the outdoors and in general would rather be outside than in. I love to hike, camp, swim, walk beaches, visit "the breakwall", play frisbee golf, play pick up games of various sports, and take long night walks.

21. I love movies. If I can't be outside, I'd probably next go for playing my trumpet or watching a good movie. Popcorn and a movie can turn any frown upside down. I'll watch almost any movie unless the comedy is too slapstick or I'm not in the mood for a chick flick.

22. In general, I'd rather hear what you have to say than speak myself. Please don't take this as me being shy or just anti-social. If I have something to say, it will be said, I'm almost never holding back. I'm just legitimately interested in your stories and love to know what is going on in my friends lives.

23. I love to travel. I have been in all 48 contiguous states and 4 other countries. I love mountains, oceans, and skylines alike. Some of my favorite memories stem from family vacations traveling the US and from band or orchestra tours traveling domestically (CA, Nashville, Myrtle, and Virginia beaches, WI, MI, IN, OH, IL, IA, and OK) and internationally (Toronto, Frankfurt, Malta, Gozo).

24. I enjoy a good drink once in a while, at a party with my close friends, or at a restarant with a steak, fahita, wings, or burger. My drinking is not to excess, it is merely social and for taste.

25. Believe it or not there is more to say, so rather than rambling, I'll just apologize for the few points in the middle that I made while rambling. Took me a while to gain my second wind.