Well, it has been a bit rough the past few weeks. I have been having a few health issues and so it has made it difficult to get my practicing done. But I am getting back into practicing now and am plugging forward to my next competition. My next competition is in the middle of April up at Utah State University. I will be entering three songs in three different divisions. This is one of my favorite competitions to do! It is kind of like I am at home at this competition because Utah State is where I study piano so I usually feel pretty comfortable. I am going up to Logan almost every week for the next month to prepare. I want to be really prepared for this competition!

Well, I worked hard and played well, but I didn't win. It is okay though because I have decided that I am not going to let myself get discouraged. I am going to let this experience make me want to work harder instead of giving up. Even though it was a tough competition and I didn't make it, I still played my best and loved every minute of it..........that is what's most important. I am now excited to start working toward my next competition which is in April. It is the Utah State University Piano Festival. The great thing about life is that no matter how many times you "fail" you always get another chance and can try, try again.

Well, tomorrow is the big day! It is the Utah Symphony Youth Guild competition. I will be playing Aria Variata by J.S. Bach. I am very excited but also a little nervous. No matter what happens tomorrow my goal is to play my best and have fun! Whenever I compete I always have to remind myself of this. Yes, it is very exciting to win, but that isn't the whole point of competing. The most important thing is that I do my very best!

I am loving piano right now! Yesterday I had a recital at Daynes Music Store in Murray. It went really well! I was very pleased with how I played! It was so nice to perform in front of a big group. Performing for groups really prepares me for competitions because I get more nervous playing for a lot of people than playing for a few judges. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to share my love of music with others. Performing has always been a harder thing for me because I have to feel the music in order for the audience to feel it and even though I could play the music I had a hard time feeling it, but now I am becoming a lot more comfortable with it and I love it!

It is now official! I just sent in my application for the Youth Guild Recital Competition. I am doing the Bach Variations and it is really coming along well. It has been such a long time since I competed and I can't wait! This might seem crazy, but the feelings of competing are so wonderful! I always get really nervous right before I go in, but then as I sit down at the piano and begin to play I don't feel nervous at all. Everything I was worried about leaves my mind and it is just me and the piano. Everything just seems to fall into place when I play and it is the best feeling in the world to come out of a competition and say I did it! I am very excited!

Yesterday I went up to Logan to have a lesson with Professor Amano.  It was a great lesson.  We worked on my Bach Variations and we decided that I am going to use it to compete with in February for the Utah Symphony Youth Guild competition.  The Bach is going really well and basically I am just working on "polishing" it.  As the competition gets closer I will definitely be needing people to play for!

This week has been the best week!!  On Sunday, my mom told me that no matter what I had to get a minimum of three hours a day Monday through Friday.  I had many late nights but I managed to get three hours each day.  Since I got fifteen hours during the week I get to have a relaxing weekend!  One thing I learned is that no matter how hard it is to do something and no matter how easy it seems it would be to quit, just keep working hard because you will be rewarded and feel happy in the end.