The Joy of Music

It's been a dream of mine to have a piano in our home. As we've slowly worked on decorating/completing our home, we planned for the front room to eventually morph from "toy overflow" to a beautiful formal room with a piano. Now, we are well on our way! With fresh paint, new carpet, and most importantly, a gorgeous piano, we are enjoying this space in our home immensely. It's been in our house all of 10 days and we can't stay away from it. So, pardon the lack of blogging (both here and on the cooking site). What you also can't see are the piles of laundry, note-yet-addressed Christmas cards, and clutter in the house as a result. Matt and I both played in high school (ironically from the same teacher at the same time, though we were not yet dating), and I've been dying to take lessons again. I put a shout out to my Facebook friends for piano teacher recommendations, and I got the most sincere, heartfelt endorsement from our friend and neighbor, who was one of Matt's residency classmates. I figured if this woman was willing to drive all the way out here to give her son lessons, there'd be a chance she'd come here for us. And, so she is. Miss Marilyn is amazing. We love her already. She is a wonderfully talented and accomplished pianist with a heart for teaching. She uses cartooning during her lessons to draw instructions for Jillian and at the end of her first lesson had her playing songs via patterns. After week 2 she can play Jingle Bells. Her goal is to help her students be able to play as quickly as possible to get joy out of the music and limit frustration. I am also taking lessons from her (she comes here on a morning where both girls are in school), and her approach to adult students is just as motivating. She spent a good deal of time talking to me about what would be meaningful for me to play, truly seeking to make this endeavor one of joy and not just accomplishment. This totally jives with the life philosophy of someone who is an OT by trade. Marilyn is a blessing to our family already, and we are so thankful for her!

Jillian and Miss Marilyn, first lesson

Marilyn called Jillian "a joy to teach". Music to a mother's ear.

As soon as the piano was delivered, we had a concert by our resident Queen Elsa (wearing a Snow White costume and her snow gloves). You can bet she belted out "Let It Go" while she played. We're giving this little royal girl a bit more time before things get official with the piano. In the meantime, she enjoys experimenting with sounds and making us smile with her enthusiastic concerts.