Watch Colin Conduct the MSU Wind Symphony on Banddirector.com!!

Thursday, September 29, at 7:30pm Eastern Time, Colin will be conducting Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger with the MSU Wind Symphony.  The concert will be streamed live online for free at www.banddirector.com.  To access the concert online, go to www.banddirector.com and click on the tab that says "Live Broadcasts."  There will be a link to the MSU Wind Symphony Concert at the top of the list.  The link should open a few minutes before the concert so that you can make sure that your web browser is configured correctly to view the video feed.  This is a great opportunity to see Colin conduct from far away for all of our friends and family back home!! We hope that you all tune in to watch it!'
The Concert Program is as follows:

Nelson.............. Rocky Point Holiday
Wilt................... Nevermore
Grainger........... Lincolnshire Posy
Bassett............. Lullaby for Kirsten
Hindemith........ Symphony in B-flat
Fillmore............ Circus Bee

Collage Concert

Colin and Mandie after Collage Concert

Us celebrating at Pizza house after Collage Concert

Last week was super busy for Colin.  This year, he was again the production manager for the MSU College of Music Collage concert, which showcases different acts from all aspects of the school of music.  Performances were given by the Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, Choral department, Jazz Band, a jazz vocal group, a Klesmer group, and various instrumental duets, ensembles, and solos.  It is a big concert to organize, and everyone thought that Colin did a wonderful job! A program of the concert can be found by clicking here.

Also, in the MSU football world, MSU beat Notre Dame two weeks ago in overtime with an amazing fake play!! If you missed the game, here is the play that won the game:



MSU plays Wisconsin on Saturday for their first Big 10 match-up of the season, so look for Colin on TV!

Short Update

Marching band season is here and in full swing!  Colin just finished Spartan Marching Band preseason, which started last week and ended last night.  After long days from early in the morning until ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, Colin is ready to start school on Wednesday and get into a normal schedule.  The first MSU football game is this coming Saturday, and marching band activities happen every weekend until Thanksgiving, except for Halloween weekend.  The schedule can be found here.  We are gearing up for a busy fall!!

Colin passed his Comps!

Colin took his Music Theory comprehensive exam today today and he passed!! He is now one step closer to being Dr. McKenzie!!  The comprehensive exam is part of the requirements he has to fulfill to finish his degree.  Now all he has is one more year of coursework and to finish his document and he will be done!  Congratulations to my super smart husband!!

Colin's New Job!

That's right, in addition to being a full-time graduate student with the MSU band department, Colin has a new job!! Colin will be the new interim organist at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church in Williamston. He has played on the organ and thinks that it is a beautiful instrument and is excited to be able to use his musical talents in a performing arena again. The church is very historic and quaint, and its ground include the main church, a smaller chapel that is actually an historic landmark (the original site of the church), and a beautiful prayer garden that has an authentic labyrinth! Information about the church can be found online at their site by clicking here. Colin and I are both looking forward to this new activity in our lives in Michigan.

Rhodes Family Visits Michigan!

Mom and Dad at the lighthouse in Grand Haven

My parents came to Michigan for a visit this past week, and we had so much fun with them! They flew in on Wednesday afternoon and we got to catch up a little bit, and then on Thursday, my dad played golf while I went to work and Colin went to class. On Friday, we took a day trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan, which is a little German town about an hour and a half west of Lansing. We went to Bronner's, the largest Christmas store in the world. We also went to all of the shops in town and then ate yummy German food.

Mom, Dad, Me and Colin outside of Bronner's Christmas Store

Dad and Colin inside Bronner's Christmas Store

On Saturday, we went an hour and a half to the east of Lansing to Grand Haven, a small town situated on the coast of Lake Michigan. This was our first time to ever see Lake Michigan, and it was huge!! We walked along the coast and looked at the beach.

Lighthouse at Grand Haven

Boats coming into the channel from Lake Michigan

Me and Colin at the lighthouse at Grand Haven

Then, on Sunday, my parents went back to Texas. We were sad to see them leave but were so glad that they could come to visit! Click here to see a complete online album of our summer pictures, or paste the following link into a new browser window: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2332405&id=9203837&l=61fd711d19.

New Puppy Pics!!!

We have made a new album with updated pictures of our favorite family members--Charlotte, Beauregard, and Savannah! If you want to see pictures of our super cute puppies, you can view the album by clicking here or by pasting the following link into your browser window: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2332887&id=9203837&l=f6f5504c5d

Crazy Summer Times!

Colin and Mandie at Cara's rehearsal dinner

Mandie and Cara before the wedding
Great American Ballpark
Astros fans in Cincinnati!

The Spring school semester ended in mid-May, and we have been celebrating Colin not having classes by keeping busy and traveling! Over Memorial Day weekend, we went to Cincinnati to visit our friend Amy and to see the Astros play the Reds at the Great American Ballpark. Although the game was pretty terrible (the Astros lost 16-2--ouch!) , the stadium was gorgeous and we had a good time actually getting to watch some live Texas sports! After the game, Amy had a cookout at her parents' house with some of her Cincinnati friends, so we celebrated Memorial Day the American way with hotdogs and hamburgers. We were even introduced to a new sport--Cornhole! (check it out if you don't know what it is, it is really fun)

Then, in June, we headed to Texas where I was a bridesmaid in my best friend Cara's wedding. She was a gorgeous bride and we were so happy that we could be there to celebrate her big day with her! Cara also was a bridesmaid in our wedding almost two years ago, so it was very special to be able to reciprocate that experience and stand by her side at her wedding. We got to see several of our friends from Baylor as well, which was very good since we don't get to see our college friends very often anymore now that we are far away. The same week, we also worked registration for the Texas Music Teacher's Assocaition Annual Convention, so any spare moment we had from wedding business we spent with our other TMTA friends! I have worked this convention for seven years now, and this was Colin's second, and we always have a good time seeing our friends from the Baylor School of Music who also work with us.

All in all, it has been a busy but satisfying start to our summer, and now we look forward to relaxing! To see a full album of the photos from our Summer trip, click here.

Spring semester is over!

This semester has gone by so quickly since Colin and I have stayed super busy! Just a brief update of what has been going on the past few weeks: I went to San Antonio to present at the Texas Library Association annual conference, and got to see my family in Baytown for a little while because I flew in and out of Houston. Surprise: while I was there, my great aunt and uncle from Athens, GA were randomly in town and we got to hang out with them for a little bit. It was really cool to get to spend some time with them because I don't think we have been to Georgia for the family reunion for my dad's family in a couple of years.

Then, I came back to Michigan and Colin became swamped with work preparing for a big concert that the Wind Symphony at MSU was putting on. MSU College of Music brought in John Corliagno (who won a Grammy for his music for the movie The Red violin) for a week of clinics culminating in a concert combining the Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, and A Cappella Choir here at MSU. It was a great concert, but lots of hard work to put all together, so Colin was super tired. Then, Colin took finals--4.0 for the semester! Woo hoo for my super smart husband!

Last week, we had friends over for a Cinco de Mayo party where I made real Mexican food (not the nasty stuff you get here in Michigan!) and then I went to an Academic Libraries Symposium in Novi, MI. Now, we are so ready for summer!! If only the weather would cooperate...

Cirque du Soleil!

For Valentine's Day, Colin bought us tickets to the traveling Cirque du Soleil production of Alegria that was coming to East Lansing in April. Thursday night was finally the night we got to go see it! The show was spectacular--if you have never seen it before, I highly encourage you to go. There were amazing tumblers, contortionists, acrobats, and funny clowns, and the music was wonderful as well. The coolest part was that our seats were on the floor of the Breslin Center (the MSU basketball arena), so we were up close and personal with the whole show! It was really cool to get to see all of the costume details and makeup artistry that you would not get to see otherwise! We had a great time and were really excited to get to go!