Say a little prayer for me…

Dear Readers,
I don’t know if there are any people out there that view this blog regularly but if you do you’ll notice that this is my first post of the week. I finally have some time to send out an update, so here it goes.

I am back in school! It’s exciting and very scary. I’m glad to be learning again but homework and papers are still not my cup of tea. Last weekend I went for a walk with my good friend, Whitney. After I got home from having a reflective life conversation I realized that I really didn’t want to waste my time and I want to move forward with some long term goals. I had been communicating with an adviser at UNL and he suggested that I get into certain courses immediately. I had a meeting with him on Monday and I was in class by 12:45 p.m. I walked around on campus so much that day getting permission from my office and forms signed that I came home with blisters. It also didn’t help that I got totally soaked from the incessant rain. It was a long day.

The classes I’m taking in the next 5 weeks are Inclusive Music Education (online), Woodwind Literature and Pedagogy (on campus), and Dynamic Strings Course (on campus). I had to adjust my work schedule in order to attend class so I now work 7:30-12:30, go to class, and then back to work 2:30-5, Tuesday-Friday. It’s made for some early mornings and long afternoons. This weekend is very busy as well. The violin course meets just this weekend from 6-9 tonight and 9-6 tomorrow. If you see me Sunday looking unkempt, you’ll know why.

I give you those boring details so you can understand why I’m not writing, hosting parties, cooking, or doing anything much in the way of recreation for the next 5 weeks. By the end of the time I will hopefully have completed 7 graduate credit hours and be that much closer to a music education teaching certificate and a Master of music ed degree. I have a couple semesters of classes to take before I can student teach. Still, it’s good to be actively pursuing music again.

I hope you all have a great weekend and pray for me if you think about it! I certainly will need some heavenly intervention to get through this busy time. We’re also accepting offers from anyone who wants to clean our house for free.
The title of this post is inspired by the scene from My Best Friend’s Wedding where they sing in the restaurant. It makes me smile so here’s a link to the YouTube video.

Allison G.

p.s. I have another online course in July, Human Relations, from Chadron State college that will satisfy a requirement for (substitute) teaching. I’m not too worried about that one.

Marriage and the Movies

Here are the basic things I’d like to state:

I am a Christian.  I am married.  I have been married 1 year and 4.5 months.  I value the sanctity of marriage.  I do not believe in divorce.  My vows I made at the altar were before God, my husband, family, and friends and I will continue to uphold them.  I do believe that marriage can be difficult and strenuous.  People will change and the relationship dynamics do as well.  Here’s where I’m headed:

I recently saw two movies that, in my opinion, featured and supported characters who completely disregarded the sanctity of marriage and the commitments they made to their spouse.

He’s Just Not That Into You
This was a good movie.  It was funny.  It had a lot of truths in it about relationships and dating difficulties.  The parts I could not stand were the scenes featuring Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper.  Bradly played a married man who had been with his wife since college. He blamed his infidelities on “not being ready for marriage” and “we’re different people now”.  Scarlett’s character knew he was married but thought that she was “the one” and he obviously wasn’t supposed to be with his wife.  These perspectives make me so upset.  I love my husband and I think we have a great marriage.  That is not because I was “ready” when we got married.  There are few people that feel “ready” no matter what age you are.  Secondly, yes we do all change through out life.  The idea of marriage is that you change together and love each other through the changes!  The commitment you make is for life.  Scarlett’s character drove me nuts.  She had no regard for the fact that Bradley was married and did everything she could to tempt him away, which she did.  The part I don’t understand at all in that kind of cheating situation is why does she think he’ll behave any differently once he’s with her?  He will still be a cheater and look for someone more exciting when things get dull with her.  Yes, I’m rambling, I know.  Time to move on to movie number two.

Up in the Air
This was also a great movie.  It had some really interesting things to show about our society, the workforce, and the many people who are being fired from their jobs.  I thought it showed a very real perspective of how people suffer when they’re let go.  If you’re familiar with the movie, you’ll know the character I did not adore was Vera Farmiga.  She played a woman who traveled for work frequently and started an on-the-road relationship with George Clooney.  It wasn’t apparent to George or the audience until late into the movie that she had a family and spouse back in Chicago.  George’s character flew to Chicago to express his desire to have a life with her to find her opening the door with a family running around in the background.  She was upset because it could have “really messed things up”.  In my opinion, her flagrant affair is really messing things up.  George is left without anyone in life and we do feel sorry for him but I still find myself very upset with the woman who sees no value in loyalty to the man she married.

I don’t have an answer to help this societal allowance.  I just find myself frustrated that people don’t realize everything they throw away when they cheat on their spouse and get divorced.  I know these are characters in a fictional story but I highly doubt these kinds of stories are uncommon. Hollywood is sending out the message loud and clear that cheating is okay and divorce is okay if it’s what’s best for you.  What a selfish people we’ve become.

Please don’t hesitate to ask me anything if you have questions or want to play devil’s advocate against my perspective.  Sorry to rant for so long.  It’s just because I care so much about marriage and trying to keep it more highly-valued in our culture. The characters mentioned above just discourage me.

Allison G.