Prom 2012

So I have had an exciting last few weeks. They have been extremely stressful for so many reasons.

1. Prom
2. Yearbook (getting it finished)
3. My rings (yes, now I am making two)
4. Chemistry (as always)
5. Spanish college final review
6. Musicfest

So as you can see, my life has been crazy. First, prom. We had a fun group that we joined at the last minute that made the night fun. We took pictures, went to dinner at Tomato Street, walked around Riverfront Park, then went to the dance. After that we went to CV to play tennis, but we couldn't get the lights to turn on on the courts. We ditched that plan, so we were going to go to U-High and use their tennis courts, but we just went to Austin's house for root beer floats instead. While there, we had a good time talking, laughing, and watching crazy YouTube videos. Here are some pics that we took:


The Group

So as you can see, prom was pretty fun, and the group really was amazing! (sorry, I had pictures of just the girls and just the boys, but the girl's wouldn't load, so I took both of them off)
Okay, next order of business. The yearbook is basically done! I am so excited for distribution. I really hope that the pages I worked on will turn out because I worked pretty hard on them. We just have to make the prom page tomorrow, then we will be all done making it! Making the book has been a process that I will never forget, and I am excited to repeat the stressful process again next year! I know that sounds crazy, but it's true.

Now onto my rings. I am still working on that crazy one that I talked about a few posts ago. I only have one more soldering procedure left, then I just have to make sure everything is filed and sanded perfectly so I can set the stone and buff the ring. It took me about two and a half hours last week to get the prong cup soldered into the band. The first time that I tried to solder it, it definitely soldered. The problem was, the prong cup slipped at the same moment that it soldered, so I had to reheat it and try again. I set up to solder again, which took me a while, and I began to solder it back into place. However, right as the prong cup soldered to the band, the steel tweezers on the third arm that were holding the prong cup in place broke off two of the four prongs! I was so mad! First off, the prong cup was silver, so that was a bummer, and it was the only prong cup that was pre-notched for the stone that we had, so I had to get a whole new prong cup ready. This involved sawing off the end of an un-notched prong cup, filing and sanding it until it was evenly flat, and refitting the band to hold a different prong cup. Once this was all done, I finally got it soldered on. I was sooooooooooooo excited! I also started another ring. It is a ring with a custom bezel for a stone that I found on the ground in the dirt while on trek last summer. Yes, I am making a ring with a random rock that I found on the ground. The only problem is that I have to make it into a cabochon. This is basically a stone that has a completely flat back. Sounds like no big deal right? I mean, we have so many tools in the jewelry room that it has to be quite easy. Well, it would be if our lapidary wheel was working, or if we had the compounds to make it work. Since I can't use that lovely piece of machinery, I had to sand the stone flat by hand with 100 grit sand paper. Yes, it was a pain and took a few days to do, but I finally got it flat enough to do. Now I have to make the band and the bezel cup. Luckily, I have already prepped the bezel wire, so it is all ready to solder to the bezel plate once that is done. Both of the rings should be pieces that I love when they are all done. I hope all of my work is worth it. It should be since I spent so long planning them. They both have some kind of symbolic meaning as well that many people will never understand. I am excited to see the final products someday though!

As far as chemistry goes, I still hate it and don't really understand it. Not much has changed there. It is still the worst part of every day for me.

So in spanish class, we are getting ready to take the college final! Ahhhh, I am nervous! This will be the first grade that I ever get on a college transcript, so I want it to be good. Hopefully I will do well on the final, and keep my grade up above 90%. That is my goal right now. I think I can do it.

¡Me esperas suerte! (Wish me luck!)

One of the most stressful things by far has been preparing for musicfest tomorrow. I will compete with three other students in the Mozart/Haydn Sonata section. I will be playing the first movement of Haydn's Sonata in D Major. I have truly been working on this song on the piano for atleast a year now, and I am so ready to be done with it. I won't really be done with it until saturday though. I have to play in a recital with my the three other students of my teacher that are competing in musicfest this week. Once that is over though, I might actually still have to keep the song aroung. My teacher wants me to play it in a joint recital with another one of her students, Josh, later next year I think. She wants me to play the whole sonata though, so I still have to learn two movements. Hopefully I won't want to burn the book that the song is in by the time I'm done. However, I can definitely say that I have learned sooooo much from this song and the time that I have spent with my teacher preparing it.

ps. Hopefully I will get my other blog up and running soon. I finally have picture evidence of the first thing to be crossed off my senior bucket list, so I should be able to start soon. The blog is called "My Silly Senior Story". There is a link to it on the top right of this blog.