What are the odds of that?

Seasons Greetings,

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Since I have some time to kill here in the terminal, I’m going to share an experience I had when I flew to Indiana to enjoy time with family and friends.

While waiting for my plane to Indiana at BWI, I took a short nap because I got there entirely too early due to thinking there would be children everywhere as well as tons of holiday traveling. I was majorly wrong. I zipped right through security in 5 minutes and sat there for a couple hours. In that time, after my lovely little nap, I wake up to see someone in a tie-dyeish hoodie walk by. She sits right across from me, and what do I see? LETTERS!!! When I talk about letters I am referring to the Honorary Band Service Fraternity I’m in, Kappa Kappa Psi. She is a brother at Indiana University and is heading back to school. She lives my life, but opposite. She flies home (to Cockeysville, MD) for the holidays then flies back to school (Bloomington, IN [Indiana U.]) for the semester. So, I immediately stood up, nonchalantly walked to the restroom then came back to sit right next to her. I introduced myself, as did she and from then on we didn’t stop talking. We didn’t stop talking until arriving at baggage claim in the Indy Airport. I found out that she grew up with Alec Leventis, Laura Hunter and.... *drum roll* TJ! She was a senior in the Dulaney Marching Band when TJ came in as a Freshman! This is an incredibly small world.She marched with "The Indiana University Marching Hundred" in the low brass section. Needless to say, that was one of the best plane rides I’ve EVER had! What are the odds of that happening again? Hopefully good because I had a blast. Enough from me, it’s time to enjoy the coming of a new year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

P.S. – if you didn’t get to see the video I posted on my Facebook about 2011 in review, you should. Here is the link Zeitgeist 2011: Year in Review.

New Traditions have to start somewhere

For the past 21 years, I have enjoyed the company of my biological family back home in Indiana. This year, I’m trying something new. I’ll be waking up on Christmas morning to a new family. After 4 years of being with TJ and living together here on the east coast, I have decided to stay out here with his family. So, what better way to start the holiday than make my very first Gingerbread Train with TJ, Tilghman and TJ’s mother Glenda. TJ and Tilghman ended up going into the den and watching a movie while Glenda and I finished up the Train. It’s my first so don’t make fun but check out how it turned out.

 

Cute huh? I hope to update more on the new Christmas traditions. =)

I forgot to mention that I will still be flying home from the 26th through the 31st to enjoy a week with my family and Friends back home.

Happy Holidays!!!

Giving My Thanks

First off, IT’S THANKSGIVING! Where did the time go? Second, what is your favorite part of Thanksgiving? Mine is totally the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! To start with things that I’m thankful for (I’ll sure sure to try not to bore you)…

Family
My mother and father for putting up with my music/wants/have to dos for 21 years!
My mother has always been there to cry to, laugh with and argue with. She's been one of my best friends from far away that I can run to with literally any question or comments. Thank you mom. You don't know half of how much I appreciate you.
My grandmother for always calling and wanting to chit chat. She calls at least once to twice a day, but I’m thankful for it because before I know it, I won’t have the opportunity to hear from her everyday.

Joining the Sanders family back in 2008 has been a great addition to my life! Lots of love, laughter and pure joy. All the credit to that goes straight to my boyfriend TJ! Thank you TJ for bringing me into this humongous family!!

Friends
Andrew Camden - Thank you! You have made me laugh at literally everything! You have also frustrated me more than anything on rare occasion but with our past, we both have grown up immensely! You have a been a wonderful friend. Thank you Andy!
From everyone I’ve ever met throughout my time in high school at Crawfordsville, at Indiana State University or here at Towson University, thank you for always being there! Everyone from both ISU and TU’s music department, thank you for giving me an absolutely amazing education and helping me grow emotionally, mentally and also physically!
Along the lines of music, being in a fraternity full of brothers that I have come to absolutely love and trust with all my heart I can’t be more thankful of. Starting in Spring of 2009 when I first joined Lambda Lambda at ISU, the brotherhood helped me grow in more ways than I could imagine. Moving to Maryland, I transferred from Lambda Lambda to Iota Delta here at Towson and continue to adore my brothers. Thank you, brothers, for everything you do!!!!

Marching Band

I am insanely thankful for joining two of the biggest families I would ever belong to. Being a part of the Indiana State University Marching Sycamores as well as the Towson University Marching Tigers has presented amazing opportunities of growth and also brought me passions I never thought I’d ever find without these two vehicles. Thank you to Dr. Doug Keiser (past ISU Athletic Bands Director) as well as Mr. John Miliauskas (Towson Marching Band Director) for presenting these opportunities to me and letting me grow through my passion.
Job
Thank you to Teresa Kastner for hiring me at the flower shop and giving me the opportunity to travel all over Baltimore to different venues which also helped me reach out to meet new people all over. I’m very thankful for having a job in this very tough economy. It’s great to have an income!

Health
I’m crazy happy to be healthy. No diseases, viruses, broken bones or any illness. =)

Side note: I wrote this whole blog while watching the 85th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, so I apologize for any grammatical issues.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Towson Tigers CAA Champs!

For those who haven’t heard, the Towson University Tiger Football Team brought home their first ever CAA (Colonial Athletics Association) Conference win! In the words of Tiger Head Coach Rob Ambrose
“It feels damn good to be a Tiger!”

After transferring to Towson 2 years ago, I heard bad things about the football team. Coming from Indiana State, I was quite used to it. ISU won probably 3 games in the two seasons I was there. My first year at Towson (‘10), they win 1 out of 11 games ending the season at 1-10. ISU did pretty well in ‘10 season with a 6-5 season. My second season with Towson, ISU and TU both are doing GREAT! ISU ends at 6-5 again and Towson ends at 9-2. Now, we keep on pushing! We will be facing Lehigh University on December 3rd here at Johnny Unitas Stadium on our home field! Speaking for the marching band, we will be there in full force cheering on the team!

Be sure to print out your NCAA FCS Bracket and follow along!!!

Wrapping up, if you’re around Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday December 3rd at around 3:30 PM, you’re face needs to make an appearance at Johnny Unitas Stadium on Towsons Campus!!!

BRING IT ON LEHIGH!!!

Credit: Kanji Takeno

It’s all in a days work

If you have ever wondered what a member of the Towson University Marching Band does on game days, I’m going to give you a glimpse of what happens.

To sum up what happens on game days for marching band members, I’ll use my game day schedule as an example:

Saturday September 3rd, 2011 (Towson Tigers vs. Morgan State Bears)
8:45AM – Wake up/Shower/Prep for the day
9:45AM – Meet with other drum majors for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts
10:45AM – Arrive at Johnny Unitas Stadium to set up rehearsal
12:00 PM – Rehearsal begins - Inside JOHNNY UNITAS STADIUM
3:15ish – End rehearsal, begin Pregame Cookout and Change into uniforms
4:45 PM – Uniform Etiquette and Uniform Inspection.
5:45 PM – Line up for Pregame in parking lot. Parade line up to stadium
6:10 PM – Parade begins. Start with performance at the alumni pregame cookout
6:50 PM – Pre-game performance
7:07 PM – Kickoff, Towson TIGERS vs. Morgan State
10:00ish – Game ends (Tigers 42, Bears 3)
10:20ish – Post game performance
11:30PM – Finish cleaning up
12:00PM – GO TO SLEEP!

Needless to say, we work pretty dang hard!

For those who were there at the game yesterday and watched us perform, sorry we didn’t have a full show to put on the field. Blame it on Hurricane Irene. This next week when we take on Villanova Wildcats, we’ll have a show to perform for you.

Hope to see you Saturday Sept. 10th @7PM @Johnny Unitas Stadium!

2011 Audition Results are in!

It is said, you have to know what it’s like to work as a team before you’re able to lead a team. The results are in! As most know, I recently tried out for Drum Major here at Towson University. After it seemed like a month passed by from the beginning of auditions until today, the audition process has kept me on edge every step of the way. This process has been very positive and rewarding though with all the new challenges that I had to face during the audition processes and this previous marching season as Clarinet section leader with Danny. Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout the years.

For the long awaited results… here you go:

The 2011 World Famous Towson University Marching Band Student Leaders
SMAC - Student Marching Advisory Council

All Lists are in Alphabetical Order

Drum Majors
Mark Doctor
Rai Galicia
Trevor Hedrick
Kaitlyn Wose

Brass Section Leaders
Andy Dawkins
Amy Sweat

Woodwind Section Leaders
Dan Breidenbaugh

Student Marching Coordinators
Victoria Hawkins
Trevor Hedrick

Flutes
Anastasia Handwerk

Clarinets
Dan Breidenbaugh
Gabrielle Handwerk
Megan Weeks

Saxophones
Victoria Hawkins
Jessica Martin
Nadia Natafgi

Mellophones
Mary Olson
Amy Sweat

Trumpets
Anysia Materewicz
Jennifer Reyda
Mary Rosekrans

Low Brass
Andy Dawson
John Koch
Morgan Spaner

Sousaphone
Basil Chiasson
Amanda Polanowski

Percussion Section Leaders
Snares
TBA
                                                                       
Tenors
TBA

Bass Drums
TBA

Cymbals
Nick Breidigam

Front Ensemble
Meghan Bowers
Stephen Hand

Color Guard Captains
TBA

Trevor J. Hedrick

Apartment vs. Dorm. Who wins?

Here I am 3 years after starting college. Finally I’ve come upon my last month in a college dorm. I’ve been living out of boxes since my freshman year in 2008 and just recently signed a lease with TJ in December to move in June 1st of this year. We’ll be moving into Rodgers Forge Apartments, about 1 mile form campus. They told us that if we signed the lease by Christmas day, they would cut our deposit in half and take $100 off our monthly rent. We signed immediately after taking a tour of the place. It’s beautiful and in such a wonderful neighborhood.  I’m super pumped for this. I can’t wait to have a place to truly live and be me. To sprawl out and have space. I have been cooped up in a studio sized apartment with one other person for three years in a row and am ready to expand and start the next stage of my life. I have included some pictures of Rodgers Forge apartments straight from their website. We have a 1 bedroom, just renovated, apartment. It has had all the carpet removed and has new hardwood flooring as well as the tile being replaced with granite countertops. The apartment comes with washer and dryer as well as refrigerator, microwave, stove/oven and best of all, a dishwasher! I’ve never had a dishwasher. When I was growing up, we always had to wash our dishes by hand in the sink. Anyway, enough of my babble. Here are pictures from the Rodgers Forge Website.

The bedroom

The kitchen

A view of the living room

The study

Part of the bathroom

The washer and dryer

I’m super pumped for this move. I will no longer be looking through boxes for anything. Bookshelves, laundry in the next room, cooking, drinks and lots of fun to be had. I have been wanting this for so long. Wish me luck. We move in June 1st.

Trevor

4 states and 10 hours…

I live 4 states, 10 hours and $60 in gas away from my family. It’s not everyday that I stand at my window and just think. Think about how I got here, who helped me along the way and what I’m doing now. Even though its been over 1 year and 3 months, I still sit back and think about it. If you were to ask me in high school or middle school all the states on the east coast, I don’t think I would have even remembered Maryland was on that list. Now, I know it like the back of my hand. The great Washington D.C. is right down the road along with wonderful beaches and mountains to enjoy. Even though I still have yet to be there, New York City is just a short 3 to 3 1/2  hour drive away. Never would I have ever thought I would be living in Baltimore. Of all places, here I am, working with fabulous people at the flower shop, at Towson University and throughout TJ’s family. As stated in the movie  The Holiday, “I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said ‘Journeys end in lovers meeting.’” To be honest, I’m afraid of that statement because I don’t want my journey to end here. But that responsibility lies with me and my push to keep it going. Here's to a great push!

 

Trevor

Gay Marriage + Economy = SKY ROCKETS!

Gay Marriage and the economy currently in the United States are two highly talked about topics recently. I know that here in Maryland we are getting close to passing through to have gay marriage. Something TJ and I have discussed is how if homosexuals were able to marry all across the nation, our economy would sky rocket. Think about it. Gays have money! We have plenty of money because we can’t marry. Most gay couples don't have children. If gay marriage became legal, our nations economy would be flipped upside down. I know this is a topic that everyone knows about but it’s just interesting to me.

Another weird topic is how we look to comedians for our news and our news anchors for comedy. I’d much rather turn to Comedy Central over MSNBC News to find out if something has happened throughout the nation. Oh well. nothing we can change is there? Just thoughts.

Have a wonderful night.

Didgin’ through the winter

Hi all,

So, I finally purchased my first didgeridoo and am extremely excited for it to come in on Monday. I’ve played the didgeridoo before but not for an extended period of time. I really can’t wait to be able to play daily. I’m all good to go on the whole continuous breathing bit, but when it comes to keeping constant continuous breathing and then screaming into the didge or a blast of air from your cheeks, that’s going to take some work. I think this will be quite fun though. For a beginner didge, it costs anywhere between $40 – $70 which isn’t bad at all. A more professional is in between $200 & $500. I’ll be along the intermediate to start out but hopefully after daily practice for about 20 to 30 minutes, I hope to get as good as Ondej Smeykal here in this video as he plays a Butler Didgeridoo: 

I also hope to pick up some knowledge about how it came to be and many new techniques to learn.

 

Also, as most everyone knows by now, the Ravens face the Steelers tomorrow 1/15 @ 4:30PM! I’m pumped. I ran across the lords prayer and want to end with it…

”Our Flacco, who art in Pittsburgh, hallowed be thy name. Thy bowl will come, it will be won, in Dallas as it is in the Dome. Give us this Saturday, our weekly win. Give us touchdown passes, but do not let others pass against us. Lead us not into frustration, but deliver us to the Super Bowl. For thine is the MVP, the best of the NFL and the glory of the Purple and Black, now and forever. AMEN”